


Trust Of The Innocent

by Arithese



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Gen, Interrogation, Kidnapping, Secret Identity, Torture, injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-01
Updated: 2017-05-25
Packaged: 2019-07-15 23:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 23,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16073246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithese/pseuds/Arithese
Summary: Wally has been told Dick's secret ID, but Batman doesn't trust the speedster , thinking he will spill his secret. However, Wally is not planning on giving that secret away any time soon, not even after being captured by people who will do anything to get Batman's identity. Rated T for torture and a lot of Wally!whump





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I've thought of this whole timeline, but I decided that I don't want to do it in chronological order. Some stories are more appealing (to me at least) than others, and I want to write those first. So for some stories, the background information might be unknown. But if it's something important, I will always mention it!
> 
> For this story, well, Dick told his secret ID to Wally and Roy. But Batman's not happy about Wally knowing. The story of Robin telling will (hopefully) come another time, because I have definitely plans!

3rd May, 2008. 00:27

"Dude, didn't think you'd show up tonight" KF grins, only grinning harder as Robin throws him a bat glare. A glare that would make others cower with fear mostly, or laugh because of Dick's age, but to him it meant nothing. Even Batman didn't have the original impact he used to have. Okay, granted he still wanted to cower, but he didn't actually do it!

Eventually Robin sighs, shaking his head slightly.

"Neither did I, Batman was not happy about it"

Wally grimaces behind his cowl. "You did mention I'd never tell anyone right?"

"I tried, you tried, Alfred tried not to make any conclusions. But Batman was mad when he found out yesterday." At this Wally cringes slightly.

"But seriously, I wouldn't tell anyone your secret ID. And neither will Speedy" Robin sighs at the comment, running his hand over his face.

"Sorry KF, but it's not Speedy he's worried about" Robin says, and Wally pouts at the comment but can't help but to feel a little bit betrayed by the fact. Sure, Batman -aka Bruce Wayne- was very paranoid and didn't want too many people knowing his identity. Only a few league members knew, but he had expected a tiny bit more faith.

Not a lot, he did tend to talk a lot, and fast. But come on, he had been able to keep every identity a secret so far, and he'd rather die than to break that record.

And let me tell you right now, hiding that you're a speedster wasn't easy. The powers weren't even that hard, sure it was frustrating, but it wasn't hard. The injuries that would heal in a few days were hard to explain, or the injuries in the first place, and not to mention his metabolism. Granted he couldn't go around eating what he needed at school.

"This sucks, I thought we'd be able to hang at your place right now. Instead of going to Speedy's or my house all the time" KF complains when the Dark Knight suddenly makes his appearance, along with The Flash.

"Robin, it's time to go home" Batman interrupted the two teens, children. Dick was only 11 after all, and Wally only 13.

"Already? It's barely past midnight" Wally asks confused but stops when Batman glares at him. Barry grins behind his cowl, speeding besides his nephew and throwing an arm around him.

"He's mad kiddo, don't bother him" He snickers in Wally's ear, so Batsy wouldn't hear it. In response, Wally groans in frustration.

This was going to be a big problem until Batman finally trusted him with his secret, if he'd ever.

YJ

"I can't believe he's still mad at me for knowing" Wally mumbles, glancing around him for any sign of the Flash. With whom he'd be meeting.. now. 'Surprisingly', he was late.

"I can" Robin snickers from the other side.

"Don't laugh, he benched you as well dude" Wally huffs at the response of his best friend.

Robin cackles at the other side of the line. "He didn't bench me Kid Mouth. Twisted my ankle two days ago remember?"

"I vaguely remember that." Wally snickers. Oh how much Robin had complained about that one, not only the benching it would surely follow, but also because it had been a stupid mistake on his part. "Boy Blunder"

"Original" Dick remarks and Wally snickers.

"No but seriously, it's been 2 weeks, and no one knows so far" Wally says, going back to the topic of having been told Robin's secret ID.

Robin sighs from the other side. "I wish he'd see that. But he's just paranoid. Just so you know, I trust you with my secret okay? You're my best bud"

"Thanks dude, I guess I needed that" Wally breathes out, feeling a bit better knowing his best friend didn't regret telling his secret ID, knowing that his best friend trusted him with something so important, despite Batman's wishes.

Suddenly Dick speaks up again, and Wally can't help but to be disappointed.

"Bruce is calling me, I gotta go."

"Bye" Wally says before shutting off his communicator. It was still weird hearing Robin -Dick- talk about Batman as Bruce Wayne. Or the fact that Richard Grayson, the rich snob, was actually his best friend and Robin. And not actually a rich snob in the first place. He had no idea he was teaming up and hanging out with Dick Grayson all those times.

And now he kinda felt an idiot for lying to Dick Grayson all the time about his hero life. Because knowing Robin, he had already known for a long time. Must've been pretty funny for him, seeing your friend sweat to make up poor excuses like that, while actually knowing about the secret already.

Wally looks around one more time before putting a hand on his earpiece.

"Yo Flash, where are you?" Wally calls out, starting to get a little annoyed at his mentor for not showing up on time. To be fair he had also been late, but this was just getting ridiculous.

"Almost there kiddo. There was a bank robbery that I had to take care off"

"And that took you half an hour?" Wally asks, trying to keep his sarcasm at bay but obviously failing.

"Had to stop for some interviews" Barry replies, and Wally swears he can hear him grinning through his communicator. Wally rolls his eyes behind his cowl but before he can respond to his Uncle's statement he feels something. A sharp pain goes through his neck and he gasps, cutting off the connection with his mentor as his hand flew to his neck.

"What the-" He started, taking something out of his neck, something sharp and… a dart! His eyes widen, hands flying back to his communicator again while he stands up as fast as possible, or at least he tried to.

"Flash!" Wally screams, fear creeping up on him as he stumbled over his feet, landing roughly on the rooftop beneath him, face first.

"Kid, what's wrong?!" He can hear Barry on the other side of the line, distressed and confused.

"I- help" Wally croaks, trying to crawl away from the spot but before he knew it there was someone in front of him. Wally was too afraid right now to make a witty comeback and he tried to stand one more time but something collided with his head and he was forced to the ground again.

"Weak" Someone behind him snorts.

"Better, means he'll talk faster" The man in front of him replies before he cocks his head slightly, looking down at the fallen sidekick, hero. "Hit him again" He orders, and the last thing Wally knows is the sound of something coming towards his head, something colliding, and then black.

YJ

The first thing Barry saw when he came to the rooftop was.. nothing. His eyes widened behind his white lenses and he ran around the building, as well as the surrounding ones a couple of times before skidding to a halt on the same rooftop again.

"Kid?!" He yelled but his yell was responded by silence. He felt fear fill him at the thought of Wally, why wasn't he here? The last thing he heard was Wally screaming his name before the line went dead. He didn't even know if Wally had heard him ask what was wrong. But either way, Wally never got the time to respond.

Barry gritted his teeth, dialling his wife.

"Barry?" The mumbled voice of his wife responded after a few seconds.

"I need you to trace KF, he isn't on the rooftop" Barry said, trying to keep his voice under control but failing miserably. Kid wouldn't run off without a reason, he wouldn't sound so scared without a reason! There was something wrong, Barry knew.

"Calm down Barry, I'm tracing him now" Iris hisses through the communicator and Barry hadn't even realised that he was vibrating in place before Iris had pointed it out.

"What if something happened? What if his dad-"

"Barry, his father is still in prison, and he will be for a while longer so do-" Iris started but cut her off midsentence. "His- .. I found him." Iris continues shakily.

"Where is he?"

"On the same rooftop as you are" Iris whispers, and that's the exact moment Barry realises what has happened. And he was quickly proven right as he found Wally's communicator near the edge of the roof. No way to track him.

YJ

"What's wrong?" Dick asks, walking into the bat cave. There was still a slight ache in his ankle but it was almost completely gone.

"I found a lead, I wanted you to take a look" Batman replies. Well, not truly Batman. He was wearing his Batman outfit, but his cowl wasn't on his face, revealing Bruce Wayne.

"The gang?" Dick questions, walking over to the monitors. The gang, a few months ago they had come into Gotham. At first there were a few disturbances, which wasn't uncommon for Gotham, but quickly more and more crimes were able to be linked to each other. And quickly the reporters were speaking of some kind of gang.

So far they had robbed several banks, smuggled large amount of drags and even killed countless. Neither of them were alive obviously, so neither could lead them to the gang, and so far none of them had something in common, no background, no previous records, nothing.

Apart from the way they had all been killed, a bullet straight through the head.

"Two days ago we stopped a robbery, remember that?" Batman continues and Robin nods. "There were three people, one got killed when the bus exploded but two made it out." Again, Robin nods.

"I remember" He grimaces, thinking back at his twisted ankle. Bruce seems to catch on and puts a hand on Dick's shoulder, nothing more. But it's enough for Dick to put on a smirk again.

Despite popular belief, Batman was a softy, no skip that. Batman was scary to criminals and normal civilians, Bruce Wayne was a big softy. And he viewed Dick as his own son, and not a ward like in the beginning, but Dick even wondered if he ever thought of him as a ward.

"Yesterday two people disappeared. They didn't show up at work despite their clean records, and nobody had seen them after the bus incident. The last contact was with one of their wives, just an hour before the incident." Bruce explains, showing two different men on the screen. One had black hair, which was slightly longer at the neck, while the other one had really short brown hair.

They looked like normal citizens.

"I asked Jim to check their houses, but when they arrived nobody was home, including wife and kids, the other house was empty as well, wife missing"

"And you think that they are the ones from the bus accident?" Robin questions, gesturing to the men on screen.

"I ran them through the recordings of the robbery" Bruce starts, showing his son a comparising "It's a 100% match."

"So what did you get out of this? Any reason for them to be in a gang? Any connection between the two?"

"Other than working together two days ago, none" Bruce says, shaking his head. Robin wanted to open his mouth again when they were interrupted by a rush of wind, several papers flying high up in the air.

"What the-" Robin exclaims, watching the fastest man alive coming to a halt in front of them. But he was off. He was vibrating slightly in place, and his face, free from his cowl, was filled with worry.

Before either of the bats could say anything Barry had started talking, but had unconsciously slipped into super speed the very second he started. Bruce sighed with an irritated tone.

"FLASH!" Bruce yelled, snapping Barry out of his mantra effectively. Slowly Barry's face falls slightly, tears stinging in his eyes.

"Wally's gone, someone took him"

Dick felt his eyes widen involuntarily.

"What do you mean missing? I just talked to him!" He exclaimed, feeling his heart thump harshly in his chest.

"We were supposed to meet up at the rooftop, and I was la-" Barry stopped midsentence again, blue eyes widened. "I was late.. I left him alone to.. chat with citizens. Oh god" He mumbles, burying his face in his hands.

"I left him alone"

Bruce narrows his eyes "Tell me everything"

YJ

Wally groans softly, eyes squeezed shut as a dull pain makes itself known in the back of his head. He groans again, shifting slightly and hearing the satisfying sound of popping his joints. That is until he recognises the sound of chains rattling, and his aching arms.

Green eyes shoot open and Wally stops breathing for a few seconds. He was in a dark room, he could barely see a thing. There was a dull, cliché, lightbulb hanging above him that was slightly illuminating the damp room.

Wally cranes his neck, looking up. There were shackles around his wrists, and he was chained to the ceiling. The chains held him suspended just a few inches above the ground, if he curled his toes he could just barely touch the stone floor beneath him. The shackles dug deep into his wrists and he could feel his skin screaming in protest at the treatment.

His ankles were also shackled to the ground but the only thing they really did was to keep him from kicking the first dude that would show himself.

Wally swung his legs slightly, he had slight leverage, and he could move a bit but definitely not much.

"Fuck" Wally mumbles under his breath, taking a few deep and shaky breaths.

Shit, this wasn't supposed to go this way. He knew the dangers that came with the job, he knew the injures it could cause, even death. He knew about the possibility of capture; torture. He just wished he'd never had to go through that.

Suddenly the lights were turned on, and Wally shielded his eyes instinctively. His eyes blinking at the sudden bright light. It took him a few seconds to get used to it before he looked up, seeing two man approach him. And an collection of knives, crowbars, and other stuff he really didn't want to know about.

And he couldn't hide the obvious fear he was feeling, his heart thumping against his ribcage and his vibrating body.

He knew where this was going, Barry had warned him countless times before to know what was going to happen next.

Torture.


	2. Chapter 2

It had already been 4 hours after Barry, the Flash, had run into the bat cave, telling us that Wally had gone missing. 4 hours later, and there was still no information on the whereabouts of my best friend. No sign, no ransom call, no leaked information about his secret ID. Which was the only thing that calmed me down a little bit.

They hadn't exposed Wally's secret on the news yet, either they didn't care, or they wanted more. Something more valuable than exposing the civilian name of Kid Flash.

"Master Bruce?" Pennyworth asks, his voice monotone as always. But concern was clearly present as well, worry for Wally. Worry for his 'grandson', because that was what Wally was. My best friend, the older brother I never had. And Alfred cared deeply for him.

"What's wrong Alfred?" Bruce asks, his voice filled with no emotion at all. Could've fooled others easily, not me, not Alfred. We knew that he was just as concerned for Wally as I was. He may not trust the hyperactive, and talkative, speedster as much as I did but he did view Wally as a brother of mine, making him family.

And he saw the positive impact Wally has had ever since he has been hanging out with me, well, around Dick and Robin.

"Commissioner Gordon has contacted Batman. The police department in Central City has received a package for the Flash but couldn't contact him. They knew of your alliance with the Commissioner, so they contacted him so you could contact the Flash" Alfred states.

"Thanks Alfred" Bruce says, picking up the silent hint of it possibly being connected to whoever kidnapped Wally.

"Anytime Master Bruce" Alfred nods. "I certainly hope you will find Master Wallace soon" He adds, eyeing at me for a second before turning away from the bat cave and walking up the stars to the Wayne manor.

Me too. I add grimly.

"Batman to Flash, do you hear me?" Bruce asks, one of the monitors filled with a large picture of the Flash.

"DidyoufindanythingaboutWally?" Barry responded, not talking in super speed but almost too fast for Bruce to decode it. But Bruce has spent years 'hanging' around Barry, so had I, and Wally tended to slip into super speed as well, especially in the beginning. So we were used to it, and able to easier pick up the words than others.

"We don't know, a package was delivered for you in Central. What is your location?"

There was a short silence following the statement. "South Germany" Barry mutters and Bruce groans slightly.

"That's at least an eleven hour flight." Bruce tells him, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. It had only been 4 hours since Wally was snatched. "How fast can you get here?"

"3 minutes or so" Barry replies on the other side of the line before it turns static. Bruce stands up, putting up his cowl.

"We're leaving" Bruce, now Batman, states and I raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not wearing my uniform" I state but Bruce doesn't turn around.

"Take off your hoody" He simply says and I blink a couple of times before smirking knowingly. Of course he'd figure it out. So I follow him to the zeta tube, taking off my hoodie to reveal my Robin costume, putting on a domino mask I always keep on me for situations like this.

"How'd you know?" I ask him as Bruce sets the coordinates to Central City.

"You always put on your costume when I bench you." Bruce simply replies. I smirk slightly again, I mean, was I really expecting Bruce not to know? Of course he'd notice the Robin costume that was always under my clothes, of course Alfred would tell him, of course he would see it on the camera's.

And of course he would figure out I did it so I could help him as soon as possible, might he need help.

Bruce readied the zeta tube and I stepped in next to my father, feeling the familiar feeling of being transported like this before walking out of an old deserted phone booth in an alley. I looked around, knowing it was Central City but I had never seen this part.

Bruce, Batman, signs for me to follow and I comply. It didn't even take a minute to get to the police station. But figuring we were in our costumes, we headed to the roof. Batman grunts slightly as he sees the open window, just like Commissioner Gordon would do when we'd meet up. Batman doesn't even look at me as he slipped through the window.

But after all these years we didn't have to to understand each other.

"Batman, you're here" One of the police men starts, gasping slightly at the Dark Knight and the Boy Wonder. I cackle slightly when another woman goes pale at the sight of us and clumsily gets out of her chair to close the door, leaving us isolated from the other side of the building.

"Where is the package?" Batman says in his usual Batman voice. Now it was the man's turn to turn pale and he hurriedly walks over to the desk, presenting us an already opened package. Batman raises an eyebrow, glaring at the man.

"We didn't mean to!" The man says hurriedly. "We had to make sure it wasn't a bomb, or a trick to get to the Flash" He explains himself as quickly as he could.

"Please don't kill us Mister Batman" The woman adds but Batman doesn't reply, walking over to the package and pulling out the contents.

I could see he was having difficulty maintaining an emotionless expression, whatever was in the box… I walked up to Batman, peering inside the box and I gasped slightly. In Batman's palm were KF's goggles, cracked. There were specks of blood on them as well. The box also contained a CD of some sorts and I felt the smirk disappear from my face.

Before either could comment on the content a rush of wind passed us and the cd and goggles were snatched from us, now in the hands of the Flash. A very worried Flash.

"No" He mumbles, staring at the bloodied and cracked goggles. Batman narrows his eyes, turning to the police men.

"Who knows what's inside the package?"

"Us and our boss, nobody else, I swear" The woman replies, having returned some colour, at least more than the man had.

"Tell no one, nobody needs to know" Batman orders, glaring at them for good measure but it worked wonders as both of them nodded hastily.

Batman walked over to Barry, snatching the CD from him and Flash didn't even protest, already vibrating slightly in his place. The woman points to her computer and Batman complies, putting the disk in and watching the screen closely. Seconds after the disk was put in another screen was opened.

A video.

Barry ran over to stand behind Batman, while I stood next to Barry.

Batman clicked to start the video and immediately I felt myself freeze. It was a room, grimly lit and seemingly some kind of basement. In the middle of the room was Wally. He was held up by shackles around his wrist with his feet mere centimetres from the ground, and chains were also wrapped around his ankles. But those were rather from preventing him from kicking anyone.

With his arms high above his head.. he was completely vulnerable.

"Hello Flash" Someone suddenly greeted and a man came into view, effectively blocking Wally from the camera. "As you can see I have your precious sidekick right here." He continues and shows Wally's still form again, but right now another figure was next to him.

The man himself had slightly longer black hair while the one next to Wally had a short shaved haircut.

And suddenly it clicked for me, and I could see Batman having the same response. These were the guys that had gone missing, the ones that were with the gang, and the bus incident.

"I can easily get his secret identity right now, and ultimately yours." The man says and gestures to the man next to Wally, who was now slowly peeling off Wally's cowl.

"Look away" I hiss the moment I realised what they were doing, sending a glare to the two police officers, and luckily they complied immediately, walking away from the computer before Wally's bare face was exposed.

"Sure this will lead to big money, but they are not the identities we're after."

And that's when I truly realise what this was all about. They heard us.. they heard us back at the rooftop, they heard me talk about Wally knowing my secret ID. That's why they kidnapped him, because they knew he knew who I was, and because he knew who Batman was.

"So this is how we're going to do it. I assume you know the Batman's secret identity, figuring your little runt knows as well, so you are going to contact Batman and make him tell his secret identity, as well as Robin's" I could feel Barry, as well as the two humans, look over at me but I ignored them, struggling to remove all emotion from my face.

"If he doesn't I'm afraid I will have to get it out of our red head over there" The man continues, stepping aside slightly so both men and Wally were visible.

"The hell I will" Wally hisses, spitting the man next to him in the face.

The man glares at the ginger, wiping the spit from his face. "You will regret that" He simply says.

"Looks like the fun is beginning. But just to be fair, we're giving him a chance to tell us" The man in front of the camera snickers, turning away and walking over to Wally.

"No" I mumble, feeling my heart thump painfully against my ribcage.

"This is how we're going to do it, you're going to tell us right now or else" The black haired man says before jabbing a Taser against Wally's exposed side. Wally groans as electricity trickles through his body. He grits his teeth to keep himself from screaming in front of the camera and he spasms against the chains holding him up. Twisting and shifting to get away from the painful sensation.

The shock only lasted a few seconds but Wally is panting and a few pained tears slip past his eyes.

"We're doing that" The short haired guy finishes.

"So, what's it going to be?" The black haired cuts in, clicking the Taser as a warning. Wally swallows heavily on the other side, flexing his hands in his chains. A small trickle of blood was running down his left wrist and he looks away from the men, closing his eyes tightly as he waits for the inevitable to happen.

The woman burst into tears when KF lets loose another blood curling scream and I take a hesitant step backwards. Wally was viciously twisting in his bonds, trying to keep his lips sealed but failing every time he tried by letting out another scream. Electricity was heard as the Taser was still held against Wally's exposed sides.

It only lasted a mere minute or so but it felt like an eternity, and with KF being a speedster….

"Here" The black haired man says while tossing a crowbar to the other, and I grimly note that his name was Robert. "Don't hold back, he's a speedster, he heals fast. At least, so I've heard" He continues, turning his gaze towards the panting ginger.

Wally weakly lifts his head, glaring at Robert but otherwise remains silent.

"Let's test the theory" The other guy, Alan, grins.

"Wait" Robert calls out before lifting Wally's head by cupping his chin. "Before we continue, you ready to tell who Batman and Robin are? Is it true that it's his son, or is it just some homeless street rat"

The rumours were endless, actually every superhero had that rumour. Everyone with a sidekick had. They wanted to know the relation between their mentors.

Family? Pure coincidence? A son, a daughter, orphan, friend. It was something nobody had bothered to answer yet. Though the most likely rumour now was Wally being Flash's son, and likewise for Batman. Which wasn't far off for both of them.

"Funny you ask" Wally grins weakly. "Husband and wife really, they just got married a few days ago" Wally smirks slightly, glaring at the man in front of him, who in turn glares back. Then without warning Robert extends his arm backwards and slams the crowbar in KF's side.

Another scream resonates through the basement, and into the police room.

A scream filled with so much pain and I felt tears start to leak through my domino mask.

You shouldn't've have told him.

I don't trust him.

And yet, the only thing that left Wally's mouth were his pained screams.


	3. Chapter 3

3rd May, 2008. 04:56

The video lasted 30 minutes, not even one period in school, shorter than one lesson of math. Not even a lot of time in other situations. 30 minutes, a mild warmup, a short ride back towards the Bat cave. These last 30 minutes however, they were an eternity, the longest moment of my life. The longest moment after standing on that pillar, and hearing the crowd gasp, rope snapping.

The longest moment after watching them, watching them fall.

I felt tears streaming down my face and I had no way to stop them. There were so few things that were worse than this, seeing your best friend being tortured like that, continuously. So little things that were even remotely close to the feeling.

The blood and his battered form were still on my mind, his endless screams of pain ringing through my ears. Images and sounds that would haunt me in my dreams for sure, things that would haunt Wally as well. And it would only worsen the longer he was over there.

Next to me Barry was vibrating in his place and the faint smell of smoke was penetrating my nose, caused by all the fraction on the carpet.

"Flash" I whispered, sniffling pitifully and wiping away the tears with the back of my hand. Barry actually, miraculously stops vibrating in place and whips his head towards me. Tear tracks were on his face as well and he looked .. broken. Broken at the sound of his nephew, his son in so much pain. And knowing he wasn't there with him right now.

And still throwing bad jokes, and defying his captors.

The smell still lingers but no more smoke comes from under Barry's feet. Batman turns around to look at the policemen.

"You keep this quiet, if his capture comes out I know where to find you" Batman threatens in his 'Batman' voice, standing up before pushing a button so that the computer would eject the CD. A CD that holds 30 minutes of Wally's torture. He carefully picks it up so not to break it or damage it in any way, putting it back in the case.

"We won't tell" The woman whispers, the man too shell-shocked to respond verbally, instead he just nods his head as an agreement.

"Robin, Flash" Batman calls out, struggling to keep the emotion off his face. And by now I think even the man and the woman could see his mask breaking, emotion seeping onto his face after hearing Wally scream like that. I nod absently, following Batman into the shadows again.

However, before either of us could even exit the building Flash sped past us, leaving a trail of dust and flying papers around us. Within seconds, he was fully gone, the mess that had been made the only evidence he had ever been here.

Batman gave me a look but I knew what Flash was doing, he'd meet us back at the cave again. Batman just wanted to make sure that I understood as well, so I gave him a short nod as well.

We quickly made our way back to the zeta tube and appeared back in the bat cave again. When we arrived Flash was already pacing, going back in forth in speed that wasn't human anymore but still slow enough for us to see him as a human instead of a red blur.

Luckily there were no carpets, or they'd be gone right now.

"Flash, stop pacing" Batman commands, glaring at the speedster before walking over to his monitor and putting the same disk in. The screen once again showed up, this time on the huge monitor instead of the small screen back in Central City. I wince upon seeing Wally's battered form again. I snort mentally. His battered form.

This was nothing, nothing. At the time I thought it was battered, but this was from before the capture. Before they started beating him, shocking him, cutting away his costume to get better access to his sensitive and vulnerable sides. The video started again, Robert and Alan coming into once again. Hesitantly I walk over to Batman.

"I really don't want to see that again Bruce" I whisper, standing next to him. Bruce turns around, the cowl hanging at the base of his neck, and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay Dick, I can do this alone. You can go upstairs if you want" Bruce tells me but I shake my head.

"He's my best friend" I only say but I know it's enough for Bruce to understand that I wouldn't leave. His face softens slightly and he pulls me closer. I smile weakly at him and climb onto the chair without question, positioning myself against his broad chest. He wraps his arms around me, and I smile slightly as the feeling of safety washes over me.

Until I remember that Wally definitely sharing that feeling.

"We'll get him back, I promise" Bruce whispers in my ear, planting a kiss on top of my head. I nod against his chest and Bruce turns his chair so we were facing the monitor again. I carefully reach for my mask, peeling it off and putting it in my belt. I blink a couple of times at the brightness of the monitor but relax seconds after.

Only a couple of people were able to see me and Bruce without a mask. Barry being one of them, and now Roy and Wally as well.

"What do we know so far?" Barry asks, standing next to Bruce, his cowl at the base of his neck as well. His usual blue eyes were now red and swollen, tears wiped away but still evident on his face. His fingers twitching from time to time, wanting to do something right here and right now. Not wanting to sit still and wait for his nephew to get back.

"The two men were called Robert and Alan, we suspect them to be linked with the gang we are after." I fill Barry in.

"The bus incident?" Barry asks, swallowing back the lump that had been in his throat the whole time. Bruce only nods in agreement and Barry mumbles an 'oh God' in response, knowing the gang that had plagued Gotham for the last months, and knowing the vial things they had done so far.

"They have been missing ever since, and so are their families."

"Do you think they got kicked out for failing?" I butt in and I can feel two sets of eyes on me. Bruce narrows his eyes slightly.

"It's possible" Barry says, causing Bruce to turn to his blonde friend. "They failed their mission, which mostly leads to a bullet through their skull. They got scared and ran off, trying to find their money from somewhere else"

"By exposing our secret ID's" I add and Barry nods at me. "So their family is with them? I don't think they are aware of what's happening though, especially the kid. And their wives had clean records"

"Robert and Alan had clean records as well so we can't rule out that their family knows of Kid Flash' capture. But we don't know for sure if they are aware of what's happening"

"Does it really matter?" A new voice suddenly cuts in and we all turn to look towards the stairs leading to the bat cave, revealing an angry and pissed Roy. Or rather Speedy because he was wearing his full costume except for the domino mask. He looks around the room, his gaze locking onto Barry's as if they were silently communicating before making his way down the stairs and towards us.

"Roy!" I exclaim, scrambling out of Bruce's lap and meeting him halfway. "What ar-" I start but Roy beats me to it.

"Why haven't you told me?! Why did no one tell me? It's been four freaking hours!" Roy rages and Barry flashes up beside me before I could say anything in return.

"Roy.. we've been a bit busy. I'm sorry" Barry tries, putting a hand on my shoulder as some kind of assurance, for which I'm grateful. No matter how much we cared about Roy, and how strong our bond was, it was never fun to be on the receiving end of his anger.

"It's been almost 5 hours Barry, sure you had time to inform that my little brother has been kidnapped and is possibly being tortured right now." I grimace slightly at Roy's words. If only he knew what exactly had happened to Wally.

"Roy" I mumble, looking up at him with pleading eyes. "He's my brother too, I'm worried too" At this Roy's face softens considerably and he stares at me instead of glaring at Barry, no doubt noticing the tears that were slowly gathering in my eyes. And I knew what he, and probably Bruce and Barry, were thinking. Robin never cries.

Roy scowls slightly and sighs.

"I'm still mad" Roy says but walks up to me and wraps his arms around me, crushing me against his chest for a few seconds. I relax in his hold slightly, I trusted Roy with my life. I h ad entrusted him and Wally with my identity, and I knew I could trust them. Trust them to catch me if I'd fall, now we had to show that trust to Wally.

"Tell me how I can help" Roy cuts through my thoughts, directing his gaze towards Barry but I ignore him, instead wrapping my legs around Roy and the latter easily picks me up. This was something I would often do with either Roy or Wally, not only in times like this.

But it felt familiar, safe.

If only Wally could share that feeling.

Barry seems to catch on on what I was thinking and he flashes me a smile, eyes twinkling with pain. Roy carries me over to Bruce and places me on the ground, keeping a comforting arm around me.

Bruce quickly fills Roy in on what has happened, and I consciously tried to block out the conversation. I already knew all of it anyways, and I really didn't want to hear everything again….

My conversation with KF, his message to Barry before he got kidnapped. The CD and the link between the gang that was currently roaming throughout Gotham City. And somewhere I was glad Roy knew about the gang, it'd help when we were talking about them, but knowing meant that he knew what they were capable of.

And Roy was visibly hurting from that piece of information.

"What is going to happen now?" Roy asks, anxious to get his little brother back as fast as possible.

3rd May, 2008. 02:46

Everything hurt.

Every part of his body was aching, emitting waves of pain every time I moved, every time I took a breath. I grunt softly, feeling the power cord once again connect with my bare back. My back was aching, hurting and continuously sending stabbing pain to the rest of my body. As if that didn't hurt already to begin with.

I squeeze my eyes shut, feeling a fresh wave of tears stream down my cheeks.

"I'm getting impatient boy, you better tell us-" The man cuts himself off midsentence, striking the cord against my back again. "Soon" He finishes, placing a hand on my back and I hiss in pain, twisting in my bonds to get the hand off my back. And to my horror I could feel blood streaming down my spine.

"It's-... been- hours. I-I won't... t-tell you" I stutter, not even bothering to lift my head to the two man that were in the room. The one with the black hair snorts behind me, dropping the cord and allowing it to clatter on the ground. I take a shaky breath, choking back the sob that was threatening to escape.

"Grow up kid, it has only been 30 minutes"

"A-And I.. s-still ha-.. ven't said a t-thing" I retort, glaring at the man that was now standing in front of me.

"Yet" He replies, socking me in the gut. "They aren't coming, why don't you just give me the identity of the Batman?" He rages, satisfied by my grunt of pain.

"N-Never" I state, focused on the camera instead of the man. To assure Robin, who was undoubtedly seeing the video, to assure Batman that I wouldn't give away his identity. To prove him wrong, to prove him that I would never give away his secret identity. I wouldn't break the faith Dick had in me.

And I wouldn't confirm Bruce's statements, I wouldn't confirm his doubts.

"Maybe the kid is right" The short haired dude suddenly butts in, looking uneasily behind his computer. The black haired guy raises an eyebrow at the comment, taking a knife out of his belt.

"Well I couldn't give a flying monkey" The man snorts, placing one hand on my bare chest, sending shockwaves of pain through my body before pushing the blade into the skin just below my ribcage.

"Nnngg" I grit my teeth, spasming against the shackles holding me up as waves of pain originated from my bare stomach. My costume has been cut around the waist, the top part being completely removed while the lower part was, thank God, still on.

My cowl had long been gone, and it had only been just minutes ago that the short shaved guy stopped with the torture. Instead he had grabbed his laptop to go through the list of teens in Central City, having seen my bare face. And hopefully coming up with my secret identity that way, and I really really hoped that someone would be here before that moment.

I don't even know what I'd do if they knew my identity, what would happen to KF, to Wally?

"No seriously, he's like 12. Maybe we should stop"

But instead of listening the black haired man drew another knife, carefully pushing it into my abdomen. I grunt in pain, jerking and shivering violently as blood starts to run down my stomach in small rivers. Barely enough to kill me, but enough to weaken me.

And to hurt me.

The man glares at no one in particular and turns around, walking over to the camera. "You better reveal B-man, he doesn't look good." The man says before shutting off the camera and throwing it towards the other guy.

There is a silent conversation going on between them before the short haired guy turns to the laptop again, connecting the camera and putting in a clean CD. And I quickly realised that he was going to put it on the CD.. to give it to Batman, or Flash. And I had no idea which one was worse.

My attention was forced back to the black haired man as he walks over to me again, reaching for a couple of more knives on the way here. I close my eyes tightly, turning my head away with the knowledge that talking wouldn't help, pleading wouldn't help and neither would joking. If anything, it would only worsen the situation.

I try to block out the knives being buried in my abdomen, noticing grimly how accurately they were pushed into my abdomen.

"If you want to know, they won't kill you. I'm a surgeon. I know where I can and cannot stab" I didn't reply, I didn't look at him, only grunting and twisting in pain as every knife was driven and forced into my body.

"Look at me!" The man hisses, slapping me across the face, hard. I jerk again, blinking heavily and struggling to focus on the man in front of me.

"Robert, that's enough okay!" The short haired guy yells and Robert direct his gaze from me towards the short haired guy.

"Enough?! What are you saying?" Robert grits his teeth, pulling out another knife and pointing it at the other.

"I'm saying that he's just a kid, Wally West, 13 years old. Look at him! He's a mess" The guy yells, gesturing to my battered form. I can feel myself pale even more, they knew. But strangely, that wasn't even my biggest problem right now.

"If you haven't noticed, that's the whole point of torture" Robert yells back but the short haired guy doesn't flinch at the shout.

"And it stops now, we can't continue like this"

"And then Alan? Then what? Let them murder our family, your wife, your kid?! And go into hiding for the rest of our fucking lives?" Robert grits his teeth, hands shaking slightly. "We were fucked up enough to get ourselves drugged and get involved in a fucking gang, this is nothing"

I blink a couple of times, a gang, could that be the gang that was plaguing Gotham? The gang that Dick told him about, the gang that the dynamic Duo were investigating?

Because of course they would want Batman's identity, seeing that they were the only one able to stop the gang.

"You're crossing the line. And yes! I want my family back. But not like this. Not by ruining another" Alan yells.

"There is no other way, we only have 2 hours before time is up. They gave us another change after fucking up, and like hell I will blow it."

"I can't do this Robert, let the kid go" Alan grits his teeth, drawing a gun from seemingly out of nowhere. Robert doesn't flinch, not moving an inch. "Drop the knife and step away Robert, I've had enough" Alan takes a step forward as a warning and Robert responds by putting his hands up and slowly bending to put the knife on the ground.

"Then I have no other option, because I will see my family again" He says, and within seconds a gun is in his hand as well and a bang echoes through the basement.

My eyes widen, body thumping to the ground with a bullet hole in his forehead. Alan now lying death on the ground. Robert stares at the body for a few seconds before walking over to the computer. He takes out the CD, putting it in a package and putting my cracked goggles in as well.

"Time to give your mentor a nice surprise" Robert says, and I swallow nervously. My body wracked as I start to cough, sending fresh waves of pain through my body.

"We can s-save your f-family y'know" I mumble as the coughs subside, weakly looking at Robert, almost pleading. But the man snorts.

"Batman can't catch the gang, what makes you think he can rescue my family?"

And with that sentence he's gone, leaving me all alone with the dead body of Alan, a person who I felt bad for despite having been tortured by him for 30 minutes.

And when the door to the floor above me shut, Robert's steps fading away, I break down. Heavy tears rolling down my cheeks and I sob openly, ignoring the waves of pain it caused because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get myself to stop. Everything hurt and I just wanted to go home.

Be safe, free from the pain.


	4. Chapter 4

3rd May, 2008. 05:12

"How did you do it?" Barry questions softly, looking at the dark figure that was sitting in front of him, facing the other way so Barry couldn't see his face.

"What?" Batman replies with his usual gruff voice, while not taking his focus off the laptop.

"Keep yourself focused when Di- Robin was taken" Barry responds, almost forgetting the 'no real names while in costume' rule. Barry watched Batman in anticipation, finally calmed down enough after 15 minutes to stay still, after a few threats from Batman.

"Panicking won't help Robin, or Kid Flash, you need to be level headed" Batman responds with a monotone voice, viciously typing on the foreign laptop that was in front of him. "You found anything in the house?" He continues but Barry, wearing his usual red uniform, shook his head in disappointment.

"Nothing that could lead us to kid" He mumbles, shifting from one foot to the other. "You think Speedy and Robin found something?" He asks after a few seconds of silence and batman sighs in an annoyed matter, pinching the bridge of his nose under his cowl.

Right now Speedy and Robin were investigating the house of Alan, looking for any clues on Wally's whereabouts. Just like Flash and Batman were doing right now, but instead searching Robert's house. Flash had already gone through the whole house, all the rooms, and most importantly the basement.

While Batman had went to work with Robert's laptop, still was. So far Speedy and Robin had only contacted them to rule out Alan's basement, or attic. So that meant that they had a room somewhere else where they kept Wally, and the only lead they now had were the houses of Robert and Alan.

"If they had found something they would've called, Flash." Batman grinds out and Barry sighs softly, reluctantly sitting down on the couch that was in Robert's apartment. It wasn't even two minutes after the silence had started that it was interrupted by a low beep in Flash' ear. He quickly put his finger on the comm-link to answer the incoming call.

"Did you find anything?" Came Iris' worried voice from the other side and Barry feels his heart sink at the desperate voice of his wife.

"No... but we know who took him, we're searching their houses right now" Barry replies, worry clearly seeping into his voice.

"Anything I can do?" Iris questions and Barry sighs, looking over to Batman.

"I don't think so" Barry answers with a heavy heart. Right after the sentence leaves his mouth, Batman turns around, not saying anything but Barry immediately understands. "Batman found something, I gotta go"

"Bring Wally home" Iris whispers from the other side of the line and Barry hums in approval before shutting off his comm link.

"What did you find?"

"Two buildings. Robert's parents died 2 years ago, and they left him their house. It has not been sold ever since. The other one, a warehouse. He bought it 5 months ago, but so far nothing has been done with it, as far as the government knows.

"And you think kid is in one of them?"

"It is an option" Batman answers and Barry narrows his eyes in concentration.

"What are the coordinates?"

Batman turns to the laptop again. "The warehouse is in Saint Louis, Missouri. There are no zeta tubes leading directly to it so I want you to check it out. I will go to his parents' home in Ottawa."

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 05:27

Air!

My mouth flew open, inhaling as much air as I could. Water was dripping from my ginger hair and my lungs squeezed and protested at the intake of air. Before I could even comprehend what was happening I was facing the ground, retching and vomiting to expel the water I had inhaled, bile covering the cold floor.

The foul smell entered my nose and I weakly crawled backwards, retching and coughing at every breath. My lungs burned, my head was spinning and I felt feverishly sick.

"Why won't you just tell me?" Robert grinds out, anxiously looking at his watch. Something he had been doing the moment he came into the basement again.

I cough weakly, too tired to answer. Robert growled, reaching for my hair and hauling me upwards. I let out a pained scream, feeling everything in my body shift in a way it was not supposed to shift, broken bones grinding against each other and pain flaring up full-force.

Tears slipped out of my eyes and I squeezed them shut.

"ANSWER ME!" He yelled, slapping me harshly across the face. I remain silent this time, trying to focus on the stinging pain, pain that was so little compared to the rest of my body.

Seconds after the slap he pushed my body towards the tub, forcing my head underwater again.

I had no energy left to struggle. I screamed in the ice cold water, my limbs twitching as a futile attempt to save myself, sacrificing the last piece of energy I had still left. My lungs were now burning from the coughing and the lack of oxygen. My head starts to spin and dark spots start to dance across my vision.

My eyes drop ever so slightly and…

The next thing I know is water entering my mouth, sliding down my throat. I convulse, my lungs tightening and I vomit again as a reaction, staining the ice cold water with my own bile.

It was only then that Robert quickly took my head out of the tub. He drops me and I fall to the ground, coughing and inhaling desperately, oxygen is the only thing on my mind right now.

"Unless you want to bathe in your own vomit.." Robert threatens but I just glare at him through the coughs, laying my head on the cold and wet ground to soothe the pounding headache that was attacking my skull.

"ANSWER ME DAMNIT!" Robert yells in frustration, tears prickling in his eyes.

"N-never" I stutter, bracing myself for another dunk in the water but before he can grab my hair, the door slams open. Robert is barely fast enough to dodge the batarangs that were coming his way. I whimper slightly when I see Batman standing there, as angry as I'd ever seen him.

No words are exchanged between the two and Batman immediately throws more batarangs, and really, I shouldn't be surprised that Robert dodges them. After all, otherwise he wouldn't've been able to get away 2 days ago with the bus incident. But I had so hoped that this would be over soon.

"Throw one more and I blow his brains out" Robert growls, putting the barrel of his gun against my head. Immediately Batman stops throwing, his form stiffening ever so slightly.

"Don't do this Robert, let the kid go"

"And why should I?!"

There is a slight movement after the sentence, the familiar click of the watch being opened. But I can't see it with him pressing a gun against my temple, and his arm tightly around my neck.

"It is not too late Robert. I know you are not here voluntarily" Batman said, and I knew what he was doing, trying to convince Robert that he wasn't the bad guy, give him an option to freely toss away the weapon without a prison sentence, or at least he would try to give that impression. Because I knew batman would throw him in the cell the moment he had the chance.

Robert growled, tightening his hold on me and I whimper in pain, coughing up a mixture of water and vomit. Robert flinches slightly but doesn't release the hold he has on me. Batman looks at me, leaving his eyes on me for a few seconds in a silent conversation before turning back to Robert once again.

"Sarah does not want you to do this"

"Did" Robert spats out. "We, I, had till five thirty to get your identity. As a payment for messing up." Batman glares at the man.

"After that they would kill your wife, and Alan's family" He deduces. At the mention of Alan they glance at the dead body of Alan, hollow eyes staring at the room, blood seeping out of his forehead.

"You caused this Batman, you stopped me that night, you made us mess up. And if I can't kill your Robin, Wally will have to do." I cringe slightly as he speaks my real name, but to be honest, I wasn't even Kid Flash to begin with right now. I was afraid, broken and out of costume for the most part.

"W-why?" I stutter, wincing as he shakes me slightly. "Y-you m-miss your w… wife.. Y-you wanted t-to save h-her.. W-why take… a-another life?" At this Robert loosens his arms ever so slightly and Batman tenses, ready to throw another object but immediately deciding against it as the gun was put against my temple with more force.

"Don't put people around him through that, don't put his parents through the loss you're feeling right now"

Robert sobs silently, tears falling down his face. "I can't live without her" He stammers. "I wanted to save her, get out of here!" He screamed the last part.

"This is not the way Robert, and you know it. Do what your wife would do" Batman says, his voice without emotion to anyone who didn't know better, and suddenly, Robert is releasing me, sending me crashing to the ground painfully.

"I'm sorry for everything" He says and puts the gun against his own head.

"N-NO!" I scream but he pulls the trigger, the bullet going straight through his brains. Seconds later I can feel tight arms around me and I slump against Batman, Bruce. He carefully lifted the cowl off his face and he looked at me with worried eyes.

"I-I didn't… t-tell him" I stammer and Bruce presses me against his broad chest, wrapping his cape around me to protect me, or give me a sense of protection.

"I know Wally." Bruce responds. "I'm proud of you" I smile slightly at the sentence, closing my eyes as a wave of pain washes over me, and I groan slightly at the feeling.

"Alfred we have him, he needs medical attention." Bruce suddenly speaks up and I flinch harshly, almost scrambling away from Bruce at the sudden sentence. But I manage to contain myself.

Bruce waits a few seconds as Alfred presumably responds, and suddenly Bruce glances at me, a hurt expression on his face.

"No" He eventually mutters, looking as guilty as could be. "Contact Robin and speedy, tell them to get back to the cave."

He waits another few seconds, and Alfred must say something on the other line. But the links were designed that no one could listen if they weren't wearing the links. Batman cuts off the call but immediately initiates another one.

"Flash, come in" Batman demands, waiting a few seconds before the comm link clicks to indicate Flash picked up. "I found him, meet me back at the cave"

Without waiting for a reply he cuts off the line, gazing at me again. He carefully slides his arm under my knees, and one under my back, easily hoisting me up. I whimper in response, turning my head towards Bruce's chest. His hand against my bare back burned, and the whip marks flared up with immense pain.

I groaned but Batman adjusts me slightly so the most weight was off my back. Although it does little to relieve the pain.

"Just hang on Wally" Bruce mutters and I'm too tired to comment on how un-Batman he's acting. But maybe Batman was the mask to hide how much he cared for everyone, Dick, Alfred. And for some reason he had added me to that list as well.

I was just too tired, and before we were even out of the building, I felt my eyes close and everything went dark.

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 05:36

My comm link cracked slightly, and I put my finger on it to allow the signal to pass through, taking a step back from the documents that were carefully arranged and placed on the table in the Alan house, distancing myself from Roy at the same time.

"Master Dick?" Came Alfred's voice and I feel my heart skip a beat.

"Yea?" I respond

"Batman found Kid Flash, you must come back to the cave immediately"

I gape slightly at the statement, cutting off Alfred without a second thought and jumping towards Roy, who looks at me with a startled expression.

"We gotta go, Bruce found Wally!" I yell in a hushed tone, tugging on Roy's arm. Who in turn widened his eyes, letting me drag him along.

"Did he say anything, how is he?" Roy eventually calls out when he detached himself from my grip, walking himself instead of being dragged onto the streets. Without really giving him a warning I started to run to the nearest zeta tube, the urge to check on my best friend, my big brother, overwhelming.

"Nothing, but .. y'know" From what we've seen on the video, it has to be bad. I silently add, and I can see Roy wince slightly at the sentence, clearly picking up what I wanted to say but deciding against continuing the conversation. So instead we ran in silence to the zeta tube, arriving only like three minutes after we heard the message.

I tense as we enter the zeta tube and the feeling of our molecules being ripped apart signal the successful transportation. The next thing that I see is the familiar bat cave and I immediately scan the room but upon seeing nobody in the cave itself, I head for the stairs, Roy closely following me.

"Bruce?!" I call out as I enter the Wayne manor, running towards the hall that held my room, and the I don't know how many guest rooms. If they weren't in the cave itself they could either be in the medical bay or in one of the guestrooms. But figuring we got hurt so often, Alfred could practically take all the equipment back to our rooms.

And Wally would be more comfortable.

Almost as if expected, Wally was in the guest room next to mine, and I skid to a halt, taking in the view in front of me.

Wally was laying on the large bed and wearing only his boxers, his covers lying next to him and half hanging off the bed. The yellow pants of his uniform, the only thing left from his capture, were discarded on the ground. Barry was next to his nephew, stroking his hair softly and whispering softly to him.

His cowl has been pushed down to reveal his blond hair and bright blue eyes, now filled with tears, his cheeks filled with tear streaks. Alfred was standing on the other side of the bed, examining Wally while Bruce stood at the end of the bed, inspecting me closely.

"Dick" He called out as I entered, looking at me. His cowl has been pushed back as well and his eyes were filled with worry. I carefully peeled away the domino mask, taking a hesitant step into the room.

"How is he?" I whisper, gesturing to Wally. Almost if planned Wally let out a pained hiss, trying to curl in on himself to protect his hurting body, but Barry preventing him from doing so.

"Alfred is still examining him but Wally says he hasn't had any food the whole time" Bruce explains and I look over at Wally. No food, which meant that his body didn't have enough energy to heal himself yet. Which would explain why several wounds were bleeding slightly again.

I walk over to the bed, crawling onto the bed and being careful not to hurt Wally in the process. The latter cracks an eye open, brightening slightly at the sight of me.

"Hey dude" He whispers, his voice weak and raspy but clearly happy to be out of that place.

"Hey yourself." I respond, crawling to the side where Barry was standing to I wouldn't be in the way for Alfred to work. Barry didn't complain at the intrusion, instead he just smiled and put his free hand on my shoulder. From the short distance I could now see how wet Wally's hair actually was and I immediately wondered what had happened to him.

But I was smarter than to ask him about anything so soon.

"I am sorry Master Wallace" Alfred says, drawing attention to the disinfect he was holding up. I glance at Wally, swallowing at the array of wounds that littered his entire body, the worst ones on his chest and belly area. But Wally just turns his head towards his uncle.

"Just g-get it over.. with" Wally replies in a tired voice, reaching out his free hand towards me and I grab it, squeezing it tightly. Roy was now, freed from his domino mask, sitting on the bed next to Wally's legs, also being smart not to sit on Alfred's side of the bed. A comforting hand was placed on Wally's ankle, Roy's way of supporting him.

And Wally actually smiled a bit when he noticed the hand.

Alfred nods at Wally's comment, carefully dabbing the numerous wounds that were on his chest, arms and legs. It was torture to listen to his complaints, hisses and groans of pain every time Alfred cleaned the wounds and it seemed to take an eternity, seconds ticking by at a torturous pace.

After that was done Barry carefully lifted Wally up, making him sit up on the bed so Alfred could look at his wounded back as well. Turning him around completely was a big no-no right now with his broken ribs, so instead they just sat him upright. Though Wally only remained upright because of Barry's support.

I deliberately didn't look at his back, knowing what kind of wounds were back there, cowardly? Probably.

After Wally was sitting Alfred cleaned his back as well, stitching that area first so he could lie down again. After stitching up the fewer big lashes, Alfred cleaned the blood off his back again and ordered Barry to lay him down on the bed again.

A tired and pained groan escapes Wally's mouth as his back hits the bed and I squeeze his hand tightly while Alfred quickly makes work of his chest.

He stitches the cuts, ices the numerous bruises and burns on his body. He tightly wraps or splints the broken bones that Wally received during his capture and eventually, after everything was done, wraps his chest in clean gauze.

By the time everything was done, Wally's eyes were closed and the grip he had on my hand was now loose. He was fast asleep, but even while he was asleep, he was far from peaceful.

"Let him rest for now" Bruce whispers, offering me a hand that I reluctantly took. When I was off the bed Barry covered Wally with the blanket, tucking him in carefully. So he wouldn't hurt the fragile speedster. Alfred hooked him up to an IV to give him a boost in nutrients, approved by the older speedster, and then left the room.

"Roy, you can use the other guest room if you want to, there are enough rooms" Bruce offers and I smirk slightly despite the situation. Definitely enough rooms.

"Fine" Roy reluctantly agrees, following Bruce out of the room, leaving me alone with Wally and Barry.

"Go to bed Dick, It's late" Barry tells me after a few silent second.

"Early" I correct him, figuring it's almost 6 in the morning, but I still follow his instructions, walking to the door as well and looking at Wally one last time. The covers were drawn up to his chest and his broken arm under the covers, hidden from view but wrapped up tightly under them.

His left arm was on top of the covers, the IV pushed into his elbow, and all five of his fingers splinted. 7 fractures only in his hand apparently. The rest of the wounds were covered under the covers, except for the bruises littering his freckled face. And he looked sick, pale and sweat was trickling down his forehead.

I sigh. "Bye Barry" I say, stifling a yawn as I walk to my room. I didn't even hear the reply Barry gave me.

I quickly got rid of my Robin costume and put on a pair of sweatpants before climbing into bed, quickly falling asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

3rd May, 2008. 05:38

I groaned but Batman adjusts me slightly so the most weight was off my back. Although it does little to relieve the pain.

"Just hang on Wally" Bruce mutters and I'm too tired to comment on how un-Batman he's acting. But maybe Batman was the mask to hide how much he cared for everyone, Dick, Alfred. And for some reason he had added me to that list as well.

I was just too tired, and before we were even out of the building, I felt my eyes close and everything went dark.

Luck wasn't on my side, just like luck hadn't been on my side this whole day so far. Because when I opened my eyes I could just see the lights of the zeta tube activating before shutting off again. I had only been out for a few minutes, and immediately the pain attacked me full force, forcing a pained groan out of my mouth.

"Alfred" Bruce said, and I tiredly looked through my half closed eyelids to see the old butler look up.

"Master Wallace" Alfred says, his voice rising as he sees my battered form, and I try to smile to put him at ease but no muscle in my body seems to cooperate with me. "Let's get him upstairs to the guest room" Alfred says, considerably calmer but still freaked out.

"Where is Barry?" Bruce asks as he pulls off his cowl, still steadily walking up the stairs with no problem at all. I crane my neck slightly, groaning as pain spikes up again and I shift uneasily. Everything hurt.. I just wanted to curl up on bed, and fall asleep until everything was healed.

Bruce seems to have heard my complain of pain as he tightens his arms around me, following Alfred through the door he just created at the end of the stairs. I gape slightly, ignoring the pulsing pain as we walk into a large, no huge, room.

This had to be Wayne Manor. Something I've heard about numerous times, and even more when Robin told me he was really Richard Grayson, adopted son of Bruce Wayne. Though when I heard about Bruce's distrust, I never thought I'd see it so soon…

"I always wanted to s-see it" I mumble, not eager to look around and risk spiking up the pain again. Bruce ignores my comment, so instead I look up at him. "D-did you call da- Barry" I ask, coughing slightly at the almost mistake and because of the difficulty I had breathing due to my sore lungs.

At this Bruce frowns worriedly. "You were there when-" He starts but can't finish the sentence as a gush of winds suddenly rushes past us, and two hands quickly, but ever so gently, take me from Bruce. I don't even yell at the sudden contact, or the sudden presence. Because I immediately know who it is.

And I didn't even mock the convenient timing of my uncle.

"Kid!" Barry yells worriedly, his blue eyes impossibly wide, and vaguely I realise that his cowl is down.

"Barry" Bruce yells at the speedster, causing Barry to look up to the man with fear in his eyes. "Get him to the guest room next to Dick's"

Barry nods, immediately speeding up the stairs and into a random room on the left side of the hall. Well apparently not random. Barry speeds up to the bed, forcefully removing the covers with one hand before gently laying me on the bed, but refusing to fully let me go.

"Y-you know w-where Rob's….room is?" I cough, reaching out my hand to latch onto Barry's. "C-creep" I grin and Barry chokes out a laugh, tears running down his face and pressing his forehead against mine.

"God kid, I thought I lost you" He breathes out, completely ignoring the joke. By now tears were also streaming down my face and I had no intention of wiping them away. One because I didn't want to ruin the moment, and two because I couldn't feel my arm nor my fingers through the thumping pain.

I nod against him, smiling through the tears that were streaming down my face.

"Barry" Bruce suddenly says, and Barry reluctantly pulls away from the 'hug', looking over at Bruce and Alfred, the latter pushing one of those silver table on wheels*, filled with a huge first aid kit.

"The b-butler's a doctor as well, g-great" I shudder slightly, and Barry takes my uninjured hand in his hand, minding the fact that my arm definitely wasn't angled right. Alfred walks up besides me, looking at me with a mixture of amusement and hurt.

"Batman and Robin do not always return unharmed Master Wallace"

"He patched me up several times as well, you're gonna be okay champ, trust me" Barry says, his voice still shaking badly and I flash, pun not intended, him a smile to reassure him. Which was ironic, figuring I was the one who needed the medical attention.

Alfred opens the kit, taking out a pair of scissors first and nearing the bed. Then without saying anything, he carefully cuts away the remaining parts of my yellow uniform. A few slices of shreds that were still clinging to my back and stomach, and the rest of my pants. Which he just cut in half to avoid hurting me while taking it off.

I shifted slightly, shivering as I was down to just my underwear. Barry's face softens and he quickly dried the tears on his own face before wiping mine away with his thumb. I hissed slightly as he brushed over the numerous cuts and forming bruises on my face and he winced at the sound.

"S'okay" I try to assure me but the only effect it had was Barry choking on a sob and stroking my red hair repeatedly.

"I almost lost you kid" He whispers and I give him a weak squeeze, ignoring the pain it caused in my presumably broken arm.

"You didn't" I try to assure him as Alfred starts to inspect my injures.

"Master Wallace" He suddenly addresses and I turn my neck to look at the Butler. "Are these the injuries you sustained during the video?" I gulp, looking down at the burn marks he was pointing at and I nod uneasily. At this the three adults frown.

"Kid…. those should've started healing by now unless…" I look at my uncle, nodding slightly at the implication. "They didn't feed you." He inducts and Alfred gasps slightly.

"I will have you hooked up to an IV right after" He says and I nod tiredly, closing my eyes.

"You're gonna be alright kid, I'm right here" Barry whispers, softly stroking my hair in the process and I squeezed his hand weakly again as Alfred starts inspecting my wounds.

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 08:14

"Go to bed Bruce" A voice suddenly muttered behind me, but I didn't turn around, glaring at the screen in front of me.

"Why are you here?" I ask instead. Why aren't you with Wally?

"Work called, they need me." Barry responds and I straighten slightly, but still not taking my eyes off the screen in front of me.

"And Wally?" At the mention of his nephew Barry falls silent for a bit, silently walking up to me. I tense in anticipation, balling my fists slightly. My fault, my fault that he was this way. Both Barry and Wally. And Dick… it was so rare to see him so distressed. The anniversary, his parents' birthdays..

Wally's tortured body.

All three of them fit in the list of things that would freak Dick out, make me realise that he wasn't the boy wonder every day, every minute. That underneath he was still just 11 years old.

"You really think Roy'd stay away, or go to sleep? He's been there ever since I left." Barry responds, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Lighten up Bruce, it wasn't your fault"

So different, so different from a few hours ago when he was losing his mind at the sight of his nephew.

And for once, I couldn't argue with him. My mind knew this, I knew that there was no way that I could've prevented this logically. That this wasn't my fault directly. But my heart couldn't comprehend with that logical thought. I didn't trust him, I told him that he'd tell, I told him he wasn't reliable.

And yet, he never said anything.

Not when he was electrocuted, not when he got stabbed multiples times, over and over, not when he was continuously tortured by a desperate man.

And the only secret ID that had been discovered that day was Kid Flash'.

Not mine, not Robin's, no locations, or subtle hints. He never spoke a word. Proving me wrong in every way possible.

Wally paying the price.

"I won't lie Bruce, he's hurt that you didn't trust him right off the bat.. Uhm pun not intended" At this I raise an eyebrow at him disapprovingly, gazing at him for the first time after I left that room. "But he doesn't blame you Bruce, he knows that it wasn't your fault"

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose in both frustration and fatigue. Feeling more lost than ever. And I remain silent, not knowing what to say but not willing to show how lost I actually was, not like Barry had probably already long deducted that I was. He has a knack for reading people like that.

After a minute of full silence Barry sighs, not in an annoyed manner but more defeated.

"Have Alfred make Wally a giant breakfast when he wakes up, he'll need it" He says before speeding towards the zeta tube, sporting his normal working clothes and not his usual red uniform. He looks at me for a second before activating the zeta tube and disappearing.

"How come you're still so bad at hiding your emotions?" I mumble almost mockingly, glancing at the place where Barry was just standing.

"And how come you don't hate me yet?"

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 09:28

"Roy?"

Immediately after the question leaves my mouth the archer motions for me to come in, gesturing explicitly to the still sleeping speedster as a sign to be quiet. But we both know that nothing could wake up the speedster when he was sound asleep like this, except food that is.

"How long have you been here?" I ask, walking up to the large bed and sitting on the side of it.

"Since Barry left.." Roy stops for a second, glancing at the clock. "Over an hour ago"

"Lemme guess, you've been up the whole time waiting for him to leave"

At this Roy snorts knowingly. "Probably knew I was awake as well" He mocks. "And what about you birdy? Going on 4 hours of sleep?" He says, checking me quickly to see if I was okay, which I really wasn't upon seeing my best friend banged up like that.

I shrug. "Not much less than I normally get" I answer nonchalantly, and it wasn't even a lie. Being Robin, and part of the dynamic duo, could disrupt your sleeping pattern quite a bit. Which is why I was being home-schooled so often. Though Bruce only allowed so much skipping because of being Robin.

"Any news on Wally?" I ask, finally crawling up to the bed towards Roy and Wally. The older ginger had Wally wrapped in his arms while Wally was comfortably leaning against Roy's chest, fast asleep and obvious to the world around him.

And I was pleased to see him free from nightmares right now, or at least visible ones.

"He hasn't woken up yet, a few nightmares but nothing much" Roy says almost casually, but I could hear the worry that was in his voice. Wally still looked like a walking mummy after all. His skin still pale as could be and his body lax in Roy's arms.

I nod, not really sure what I could say. Roy decided to help me out by extending his arm and reaching out for my arm, pulling me against his chest as well. I yelp as I was suddenly pulled inwards, with strength that actually surprised me.

"Have you been working out?" I ask, grinning up at Roy, who in turn snorts at the comment.

"Enough to push you off the bed" He replies and I gape at him in surprise shock.

"You wouldn't" I say, putting a hand on my heart as an 'I'm hurt' expression.

"He totally would dude" A third voice butts in and I immediately whip my head towards the bundle of lanky limbs in Roy's arms, tired green eyes staring at me.

"You're awake" I state and Wally grins weakly. Wincing seconds after and releasing a soft groan.

"Gee" He mumbles, opening his eyes again after squeezing them shut. "And I thought Batman was the detective" Roy rolls his eyes at the comment but quickly takes on a concerned expression again.

"You doing okay?" He asks, and Wally cranes his neck to look at his older 'brother'.

"Kinda hungry" Wally grins and I sigh inwards. Of course he'd try to avoid the subject. And for once I don't have the heart to point that particular fact out.

"Good luck that Alfred is already preparing breakfast" I reply, earning a questionable look from Roy. I looked at him, not saying anything but hoping that he'd understand that I saw that Wally was dancing around the subject. Unfortunately he didn't seem to catch on but luckily decided to drop it as a whole.

"Dude really?!" Wally gasps, trying to sit up at the mention of Alfred preparing breakfast but hissing as he jostled his injuries, falling against Roy's chest, and earning an 'oof' from both gingers.

"What's so special?" Roy asks and Wally raises an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, I don't live with a billionaire okay? Can't I be a bit excited?" He exclaims, earning an eye roll from both Roy and me. "And why am I in your arms? A bit weird dont'cha think?"

Roy sighs in annoyance, doing a poor job at hiding his amusement. "First of all, you snuggled in my arms while you were sleeping. Second of all, you're shirtless"

Wally let's out a loud yelp, hurriedly finding out that he was indeed not wearing a shirt. But his embarrassment was short-lived as he grimly noticed the bandages, splints and bruises that decorated his body. A silence replaced the light chit chat for a second, Wally frowning as he expected his limbs.

The splints that were holding his fingers and wrist in place, the makeshift cast and…

"What's the damage?" He asks quietly, his voice deadly serious. Roy and I share a look for a second and after a second Roy sighs.

"3 broken and 6 bruised ribs. 7 fractures in your left hand, broken right arm. Numerous stab wounds, burn marks, bruised lung and spleen, and a lot of bruises"

Wally frowns again as Roy points out all the injuries he gained in the few hours he had been there.

"Barry?" He asks, craning his head towards Roy again.

"He left an hour ago, his work called and couldn't cancel it"

"But we could call him if you want to" I quickly add, studying the injured speedster. The latter seems to think about it for a moment before shaking his head.

"I'm okay, just hungry right now"

"Wally.." Roy says almost in a warning tone.

"No seriously guys" Wally butts in, looking over at me for some support but I wasn't giving in. He was being as stubborn as he could sometimes get. You could see that he was taking after Iris.

"Dude, nobody is just 'fine' after this" I whisper, wrapping my arms around myself in response.

"We're superheroes. We see death on a daily basis, we have near-death experiences almost every day. Do you think we're fine after that?" Wally whispers. "You live in Gotham dude, don't tell me…" He stops himself, for which I'm really grateful. Because he, and Roy for that matter, know all too well that being Robin didn't prevent me from getting kidnapped, a lot.

"I know" I eventually agree, and suddenly I feel very vulnerable here. Two sets of eyes on me and knowing exactly what they were thinking right now. 'He's only 11 years old' 'he shouldn't be seeing those horrors every day'. Or something along those lines. But the thing that pissed me off the most was the fact that Wally was right.

We were all fucked up to begin with.

Bruce had his parents murdered, and.. so were mine. Roy had no parents and lived on the streets for half of his life, and Wally's parents had beaten him until he was 11. Even without being a hero, and being constantly threatened and hunted down, we were messed up.

"Still, this is something different" Roy grunts, involuntarily tightening his arms around his 'younger brother'.

An awkward silence falls over the room, and I switch positions awkwardly, sitting down and bringing my knees up to my chest and wrapping my arms around them instead.

"Master Dick?" Alfred decides to interrupt the awkward silence, almost hesitantly opening the door.

"Come in" I answer the call, a small smile appearing on my face.

"Dude, he calls you Dick as well?" Wally whispers, but Alfred hears the comment.

"Master Dick insisted on me calling him that way." He says with a satisfied smirk on his face until he turned his attention to Wally. "How are you feeling Master Wallace?" he asks and Wally grimaces at the formal name calling, causing me to bark out a laugh. I had the exact same reaction when Bruce took me in.

"Better, thanks for patching me up." Wally grins, but his eyes were solemnly on the plate that Alfred had wheeled in. 10 plates to be exact.

"Master Bartholomew suggested you might be hungry" At the exact moment Wally's stomach decided to make itself known, causing Wally to grin sheepishly.

"Are we just going to ignore the name Bartholomew?" Roy whispers, leaning towards me and I smirk.

"Yup" I answer, saying the 'P' with a loud pop.

"And here I thought Wallace was bad" Roy snickers, earning a loud yelp in protest from the speedster. And I smile, maybe Wally was right all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *seriously, how are those things called. It's driving me nuts.
> 
> On another note, hope you liked the chapter! If you did, please let me know in a review, if you didn't like something, review. Reviews feed the hungry author :)
> 
> Smile-I'm TheENdOfAllThatYouSee wanted to see Barry and Wally reunite, and Bruce's guilt being proven wrong, so I did, I hope I did you justice with this chapter! *crosses fingers*
> 
> And I just want to thank you all for all the positive feedback! I love all of them!


	6. Chapter 6

3rd May, 2008. 10:03

"Are you alright Master Dick?" Alfred's voice suddenly cuts through the silence but Dick doesn't visibly react. Alfred frowns in concern, walking up to his adopted grandson. Dick was currently sitting in the kitchen on one of the bar stools, a blanket wrapped around himself and a cup of tea in between his hands.

"Dick?" Alfred asks again, placing a comforting hand on the boy's shoulders, readjusting the blanket for it was slowly falling off his shoulders. After a few seconds the black haired boy directs his gaze towards the butler, revealing the tears that were lingering in his blue eyes.

"What is troubling you my boy?" Alfred asks as he sees the tears.

Dick sniffles slightly before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know really…" He mumbles. "Everything I suppose"

"Care to elaborate on that?" The old butler asks, taking the bar stool next to Dick.

"What Wally said back there.. about us all being messed up. It got me thinking" Dick slowly starts to explain, biting his lip. "It's true, we all are. None of us has lived a happy life. And I have more nightmares than dreams ever since .. that night in the circus" He hesitantly adds, knowing that even if he hadn't told anyone, Alfred knew about it.

And on cue, the butler nods knowingly.

"I don't even know why I'm so down.. but it's just, realising that we go through hell every day basically, and …" Suddenly Dick cuts himself off, new tears streaming down his face as he directs his gaze towards Alfred again.

"What does it say about me? That I can laugh, and joke and still go out there even after being kidnapped and tortured so many times? Even after seeing so many deaths?" He questions, sobbing and allowing tears to freely be released from his eyes.

"It tells me, Bruce, and everyone that you love and everyone who loves you, that you are really brave." Alfred tells him sternly without a moment of hesitance. "You have suffered great losses, horrors that have been unleashed that no child should witness. And yet, you still put yourself out there to help others from suffering the same fate"

Dick doesn't say anything, gaping at Alfred as he confidentially continues.

"You are not anything negative by doing so, you are very brave and you should not harbor these bad thoughts for they will destroy the light that is within you. Remember that you are loved for who you are."

"You mean that?" Dick whispers.

"Certainly Master Dick"

"Thanks Alfred" Dick smiled, wrapping his arms around Alfred, who in turn wrapped his arms around the boy as well.

"Any time"

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 10:12

"So how long will it take you to heal?" Roy asks, putting his hands behind his head as he stares at the television screen.

Wally frowns slightly, shrugging with a hiss of pain. "A week I guess?" He says hesitantly. "It really depends.." Roy keeps looking at the television screen, a smile on his face.

"Don't you worry about food Kid Mouth, 'nough food around here" Roy grins, and Wally sticks out his tongue in response. Roy merely snickers at the ginger's reaction. Still, he gets nauseous everytime he looks at his younger 'brother'.

"Hardy har, you are so funny" Wally grimaces, rubbing his palm over his shoulder. Roy turns towards the speedster, frowning as he saw the discomfort he was in.

"Ya okay?" He asks concerned, and Wally looks to the left at the question.

"Well apart from not being able to move, I'm grant"

"Not funny Wally" Roy retorts with a frown, gently prying Wally's hand from his shoulder and placing his own hand on it, gently prodding into it. Wally groans in satisfaction and relaxes slightly. "Do I need to call Alfred?" At this Wally grins slightly, it wasn't often Roy expressed this much concern without his usual temper.

Even if they all knew Roy cared so much, it was nice to actually see it for once.

"Nah, my shoulder's just aching up a bit" He waves it off and Roy rolls his eyes without Wally seeing it. It may not look like it, but Wally was tough, and he mostly kept his injuries to himself, Iris and Barry being an exception. But the worst wounds were kept from the rest. Didn't mean they never found out, but he rarely told them.

A subconscious tick he got from living with his parents for so long; too long.

"How long have you known?" Roy suddenly asks, causing Wally to look over at him. A tiny twinge of pain went up to his neck but he quickly bit it down.

"About Dick?" He asks and Roy nods with a roll of his eyes. "A week before the anniversary or something. I asked why he was acting so weird and that he knew he could tell me everything if he wanted"

"And he did" Roy concluded and this time Wally nods.

"He did, even when Bruce told him not to. Can't blame him though, from what I've seen Bruce isn't really a talker."

"Bruce still loves Dick to death, even if he can't show emotion."

Wally grins, looking at his older 'brother' with a twinkle in his eyes. "I wonder who he reminds me off" He smirks and Roy scowls, pushing Wally's head away with great care as to not to hurt him. But they both knew the answer; Roy. They of course knew him well, and could see what he was truly feeling. But that didn't mean he expressed it openly.

"Do you blame him?" Roy suddenly asks with a frown, getting up slightly to face Wally. The latter frowns slightly as well, his grin falling off his face as he simultaneously looks at his battered body that was partly hidden beneath the blankets.

"I do" Wally says with a pause. "I mean, I don't blame him for this" Wally quickly adds, lifting his arm with the broken fingers.

"He didn't do that, and I wasn't at that rooftop because I was mad at him, that was pure coincidence. But him not trusting me… "

"You're wondering why, why he didn't?" Roy fills in and Wally nods again.

"I have kept my identity a secret so far; I've kept yours, Barry's and others as well." Wally says but looks up slowly. "But I guess I can't really blame him, there is a bigger prize above his head because he's a famous billionaire."

"And apart from Barry no one else knows, you're one of the few people who know" Roy butts in, trying to cheer up his younger brother.

"But it wasn't his decision, and he still openly distrusted me" Wally scowled angrily, turning away from Roy as the first tears were gathering in his eyes. Roy sighs, wrapping his arms around the young speedster and pressing him close.

"Get off, I don't need cuddling, I'm not a child" Wally scowls, trying to push Roy away but only succeeding in hurting himself in the process as pain shot through his broken ribs and arm, and stitches started to stretch at the struggle.

"Argument is invalid until voice stops with cracking" Roy grins, wrapping his arms more tightly around the speedster to avoid him hurting himself. Wally squirms in vain before sinking his teeth in Roy's arm, who in turn merely smirks because Wally barely had the strength to lift his arm, let alone hurt him with a bite.

Still, he removed the teeth from his arm and forced Wally to look at him, who glared through teary eyes.

"I hate you" He mumbled and Roy laughed, pressing Wally against his collarbone.

"Love you too bro" He laughed, covering up the concern he felt for his little bro.

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 11:48

Iris was still waiting for a call, a text, anything that would give her an indication how Wally was feeling right now. She knew about Batman, and Robin, but Batman had no idea that she did. So visiting Wally was no option, but she was worried sick and she wanted to see her so- nephew.

She sighed, looking at her phone again but she didn't get another text after Barry left for work.

"Hey Iris!"

Instead, she got a visit from the Scarlet Speedster himself. His cowl was already down and he quickly walked over to his wife, wrapping his arms tightly around his wife. "I'm sorry for leaving you alone so long" He mumbled into the embrace and Iris buries her face into his chest.

"Don't be, I understand" She replies. "How is he? Have you heard anything?"

"Not yet. I wanted to go immediately after the meeting ended but.." Barry starts and ends the hug, but still keeping Iris close. "I wanted you to come with me, you deserve to see him as well."

"Won't Batman be mad that I know? That's the whole reason this happened" Iris says, looking into his husband's eyes.

"Currently I don't care all that much, you deserve to know and Bruce will understand" Barry says before grinning goofily. "Besides, I never told you anything. You figured it out"

Iris matches her smile with Barry's, neither needing to speak out loud what Iris was thinking. It was true that Barry never told Batman's secret, but he never told her about being the Flash either. That is something she figured out as well.

"Alfred wanted to check on Wally's injuries but wanted to wait until I was back." At this Iris' smile falters slightly. "Wally's tough but.. I can see it's affecting him."

"I didn't expect anything else to be honest" Iris reluctantly admits. "It's just.. we were just making some progress after we took him in, and now this"

"I know, I thought about that too. But he has already grown so much since we took him in. We're getting through this."

"Is it bad that I hate Rudolph more than that I hate the ones who did that to him?" Iris suddenly asks, completely changing the subject. Barry frowns slightly before softly squeezing Iris' hand.

Barry gently tips Iris' chin up so they were forced to lock eyes. "Not at all" He softly speaks. "Back then he was only loved by you*, and he probably didn't even realise that. Now, he knows that there were people looking for him. People who loved him and would give their life to save him."

Iris nods, gently wiping away the tears in her eyes before laughing as tears started to gather in Barry's eyes as well. Barry grins sheepishly and quickly wipes them before taking Iris' hand.

"Ready to go?" He asks, putting on his cowl with the other hand.

"Run Barry" Iris laughs, allowing Barry to pick her up. "Run"

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 11:53

"Master Bartholomew" Alfred announces before his eyes travel to the redheaded woman he was carrying. "Miss Allen"

"Hey Alfred, it's nice to finally meet you" Iris says politely, extending her hand to shake Alfred's, who accepts it with a smile.

"It's delightful to finally meet you in person" Alfred replies. " Wallace is upstairs right now, I had been waiting for you" He says, casting a look towards Barry, who in turns grins sheepishly, his cowl already down.

"Yes.. about that. Where's Bruce? I might need to warn him that Iris knows" Alfred merely lifts an eyebrow and turns around with an amused smile on his face, beckoning the two adults to follow him.

"You amuse me by thinking the Batman did not know" Barry turns to Iris, who looks at his husband questionably. But Barry merely shrugs, no clue why and how Bruce even know about it.

"Did Wally wake up yet?"

"He did, still is" Alfred answers as they walk out of the cave into the abandoned hall in the mansion. And they immediately headed for the stairs that would lead them to the right floor.

"Is he .. okay?" Iris asks quietly while looking around in awe. She has of course heard about the mansion, and seen pictures on the internet, but actually being inside was much more spectacular.

"I think it would be best to see yourself" Alfred says as he opened the door leading to the guest bedroom. Currently Robin was sitting on the edge of the bed, next to Wally's knees and his own legs crossed. Roy was next to Wally, his back leaning against the wall behind him. Both the archer and the boy wonder were holding a controller, both playing a game that probably hadn't been released; but Robin had hacked nevertheless.

When the door opened Dick looked up, immediately pausing the game as he noticed Iris and Barry standing in the doorway.

"Well would you look at that" Iris laughs, feeling relief fill her body at the sight of her nephew smile happily at the screen.

"Aunt Iris!" Wally gasps, attempting to push himself up but immediately stopping when pain shot through his body again, and he admitted defeat with a painful hiss. Iris immediately rushed over to her nephew.

"Don't you dare do that again" She threatened but immediately wrapped her arms around her nephew, hugging him as tightly as she dared to do. Wally didn't even reply, instead he merely buried his face in his aunt's embrace, slowly tearing up again.

"I was so worried" She whispered, stroking his red hair.

"That makes two of us" He mumbled, but Iris ignored the comment, holding her nephew close, afraid of letting go.

YJ

3rd May, 2008. 10:17

His name was the first thing he heard when he walked over to Wally's room. He wanted to ask if he was doing okay. Without his uncle or aunt, with his injuries. But he stopped himself before opening the door.

"..seen Bruce isn't really a talker" He hears Wally say and he stops in his tracks, listening just outside the door.

"Bruce still loves Dick to death, even if he can't show emotion" Roy responds and Bruce bows his head slightly, feeling a pang of regret fill him. It was true, and he knew, had overheard, Dick complained about it as well. Either to Barry or to Alfred. There wasn't really anyone else he could talk to.

Did his son really feel so trapped? Was he really suffering because he felt like he couldn't share everything? Or was…..

"I wonder who he reminds me off" A small smile grew on Bruce's face at the banter between the two boys but it quickly vanished when Roy started again.

"Do you blame him?" And Bruce immediately knew who he was. It was him. And it was like the hall suddenly dropped massively regarding temperature, and cold enveloped his body.

….

"I do"

Bruce was gone before Wally had even finished the sentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *I've made some changes in my timeline regarding YJ and original material. One of them being that Barry never knew Wally before, and they only met when Wally was taken away from his parents and he moved in with Iris. So back then Wally only knew Iris, and only Iris loved him unconditionally. Another change is, how much I liked the twist in the series, that I have decided that Roy is not a clone in my series


	7. Chapter 7

4th May, 2008. 09:47

"No" Is the only short answer Wally got.

"Aw come on Roy, I'm dying of boredom here" Wally complained, already trying to get up again but a strong hand on his chest forced him back down, and Wally let out a small grunt of pain at the forceful touch.

"I don't care, you're staying here" Roy tells him bluntly but concern was shining in his eyes, concern for the restless speedster who was still injured beyond walking. He gazes down at Wally's body, still covered entirely in bandages and splints, and where the bandages weren't hiding wounds, skin revealed bruises.

"Dude, help me out here" Wally exclaims, looking over at his best friend with desperation in his eyes. Dick looks at Wally, sitting cross-legged next to Wally's abdomen, bright blue eyes shining with just as much concern as Roy.

"I'm with Roy on this one" Dick says and Roy smirks knowingly. "And it's not like I can carry your heavy ass down the stairs" He shrugs.

"And I'm not going to" Roy butts in and Wally pouts, putting his hands over his chest but hissing as his stitches were pulled. Both Roy and Dick lost their smug expression and it changed into a look of concern but they didn't do anything as they essentially couldn't do anything.

Wally looks at his older 'brother' once the pain subsided, still pleading.

"Why do ya even want to go down?! Alfred brings food if we want and Dick has all the games" Roy retorts, Dick grinning at the mention of his name, and the obvious hacking he did to get all those games.

At the last remark Wally holds up one of his hands with raised eyebrows, broken and definitely unable to play any games to keep him entertained. Dick actually winces at the injured hand, reminding them of when they just brought Wally to the manor. Wally puts them away the moment he sees the reaction.

A silence ensues, they both knew that Wally would get restless, it's basically all speedsters did once forced to stay in the same place for an extended period of time. And they both wanted to keep Wally entertained any way necessary. Both to keep his thoughts of the memory of torture and because this was a rare moment they were all allowed in the manor.

But he was still injured, he couldn't do anything with his hands yet because one was broken, fingers splinted, and the other arm shared the same fate.

Eventually Roy sighs, getting off the side of the bed. "If you complain once I will drop you" Roy deadpans, and a genuine smile spread on Wally's face. "Don't make me regret this" Roy continues with concern in his eyes, taking off the covers that were covering Wally's injured body.

Wally bites his lip slightly as he too sees the full extent of his body, littered with bandages and splints. Roy seems to catch on and slowly slides his arm under Wally's back and knees, hosting him up. Wally hisses at the motion despite trying to stifle the sound and both Dick and Roy wince at the sound.

And despite his threats Roy just made, he didn't drop Wally. Not like Wally ever thought he'd carry out that threat in the first place. Though Roy and Dick don't move for a moment, concerned for their brother.

"Just walk" Wally mumbles as a blush starts to form on his cheeks. Dick snickers at the embarrassment Wally obviously feels now he was carried like a baby but the ginger just turns his head away, towards Roy's chest. And while Roy would normally join Dick in his teasing, he now decides to keep his mouth shut.

"Don't move or I'll drop you" Roy says but more as a warning than a thread. Wally nods, laying his cheek against Roy's chest as they descend down the stairs. Roy immediately walks over to the living room, placing Wally on one of the comfortable couches, Dick immediately helping out by draping a thick blanket over his body.

Wally winces as he wiggles slightly, making himself comfortable so that his injuries weren't hurting him. Dick pushes a pillow behind his head and Wally grins in appreciation.

"Thanks dude" He says, both to Roy and to Dick.

"So what now?" Roy asks as he plops down on the chair near Wally's head, Dick sitting down on the same couch as Wally's, carefully putting the ginger's leg on top of his lap. Wally grins at the gesture and Dick met his gaze for a second.

"Perhaps food Master Roy?" Alfred asks as he walks into the living room carrying three plates.

"Breakfast!" Dick announces with a smile and even Wally perks up at the mention of food. "You're the best Alfred"

The butler smiles at the words of his adopted grandson, giving each of them a plate of food, Wally getting thrice the portion of Dick and Roy. He watches with a content gaze as Dick negates his plate and instead helps Wally, much to the ginger's chagrin. He hated not being able to move his arms, and not being able to eat himself.

But Dick is considerate, knowing what it's like not to be able to eat on his own from his own experiences, and doesn't make fun of Wally for once, putting the latter at ease considerably as he accepts Dick feeding him.

"So I've heard" Alfred replies with a smile but before he can leave the teens alone Dick stops him.

"Where's Bruce? I haven't seen him all morning, or yesterday evening" He asks with a confused look on his face. To any outsider it would look like Alfred remained stoic, professional and unconcerned by the question. But it was the little jolt in his muscles and the flicker in his eyes that gave something away.

"Master Bruce is busy with a league case right now" Alfred speaks up, and Dick frowns at the statement before nodding absently, listening as Alfred left the room.

"There's no league case is there?" Roy asks bluntly as the butler had left the room and Dick frowns still.

"Not one he's been working on this morning"

Bruce was definitely hiding something.

YJ

8th May, 2008. 16:58

They did see Bruce a few times over the next four days. Wally rarely did, but Roy and Dick more frequently. Every time Wally would be separated from Roy and Dick, or when one of them would be separated from Wally. Dick caught on quicker than Roy this time, caught on onto the fact that his father was avoiding Wally.

But it didn't take long for the three of them to notice the lack of Bruce around the manor.

And Wally was determined to get to the bottom of it, especially since Bruce already blew off both Dick and Roy when they asked about his absence.

"How do you feel kid?" Barry asks, preparing himself to help his nephew is he'd fall.

Wally just smiled, taking another confident step. "It aches a bit but I'm good" Wally confirms, beaming as he could finally walk again without too much pain, because Barry knew his nephew, and how reluctant he was to admit he wasn't ready to walk yet. But his ribs had healed considerably, just like all his other wounds.

"That's good but remember-"

"No running until they're fully healed. I know uncle Barry" Wally finishes, walking back to the bed and plopping down on it. Barry immediately sat down as well and started unwrapping the bandages around his leg. Nasty scars and newly healed tissue revealed themselves and Wally grimaces.

Some still had scabs on them, especially the ones that were made from the whip they used on him.

Most of them were on his back, but they weren't about to limit it to one specific area. His uncle rewrapped his legs and rewrapped the bandages around his torso as well to immobilise his torso to help his ribs heal before helping him get his shirt and sweatpants on again.

"Ready to go home kid?" Barry asks and Wally nods absently as his uncle packed the last things that were scattered around the room. The ginger stands up, looking around for one last time before looking at his uncle again.

"I'm ready" because no matter how much he loved it here, how much he enjoyed being with his best friends, his brothers, most of the time, he was ready. Because Dick and Roy had school as well and he was alone when they were away, but most importantly, he missed home.

YJ

8th May, 2008. 17:34

"Hey sweetie" Iris greeted her nephew as Barry carefully sat him down on the floor after running from Gotham to Central City. After saying goodbye to Dick and Alfred, thanking the butler for helping him out like that. Because obviously he couldn't go to a hospital because the injuries had occurred when he was Kid Flash.

Wally had his broken arm, still not fully healed, cradled to his chest but he uncurled it carefully and accepting Iris' hug. He smiled, embracing the familiar sight of the living room and the small things that he loved about being home. The house that wasn't exceptionally big but still felt like home.

Small and cozy, enough for the three of them.

"I made you some dinner if you want" Iris offers and of course Wally nods with a smile. Iris smiles as well, ruffling her nephew's red hair before walking towards the kitchen. Wally grumbles slightly, in no position to fix his hair with his arm broken and the fingers on his other arm broken as well.

"When can my cast get off?" He asks and Barry looks at him, eyeing at his hair with a grin.

"Alfred said in a day or do, just to be safe. Your powers are still developing, and your metabolism keeps getting quicker" It was true. When he just got his powers it took him three times as long to heal. Over the last two years or so that had changed, from three weeks to 1 week for a broken bone. Approximately that is.

"Speaking of him; where Bruce?" There was a demanding tone in his voice and Barry seemed to catch on as he squirmed slightly.

"Alfred said he'd been busy" Barry answers, hoping to satisfy his nephew but of course it didn't as Wally continued.

"With?"

"I don't know exactly kid, trouble in Gotham that he's been working on" And that's when Wally knows that Barry's definitely in on the lie.

"And he isn't working on, let's say, a league case?" At the sarcastic remark Barry pales at the realisation that Wally played him, before narrowing his eyes.

"Well played" there was a hint of laughter in his voice but for once Wally doesn't go along with his jokes, he wanted answers, and he wanted them now.

"Not this time Uncle B, I want to know the truth" He says determined, crossing his arms over his chest. Or at least trying to before he was reminded that the cast around his his arm wouldn't allow him to do it as he had planned and the only response he got was a big, stupid grin from his mentor.

Wally's POV

"Tell me" I insist as Barry doesn't respond but the latter just shakes his head.

"It's none of your business kid"

"Well it's clearly about me since I'm the one he's been avoiding" I reply angrily, really wishing I could just cross my arms to get across the point

Guess I still couldn't.

I grumble inwards, cursing at my stupid cast. I hated them, always had. But for some reason they were worse to wear after getting powers. Barry said it was because of expectations, something he struggled with as well. Because he had super-fast healing, he too struggled with injuries that took longer.

Like a broken bone, which took him only a few hours to heal. It got better as this time lessened, when he just begun it been around 1 week. Add that to the fact that speedsters cannot sit still, and broken bones are restricting your movement in so many ways. And I'm not even talking about broken legs.

"And maybe there is a reason Bruce doesn't want me to tell?"

"Well I know he didn't tell you, you probably guessed it because you're good at reading people"

"Unlike you" Barry grins and I shake my head with a grumble.

"So not the point" I mutter. "I wanna know why he's been avoiding me"

This time Barry actually seemed to hesitate, gnawing at his lip. "If you don't tell me I'm telling aunt Iris that you don't like her new lasagne, and said it tasted like garbage" I grin and Barry gapes at me, robbed of every witty comeback he could make.

He narrows his eyes. "You wouldn't" I grin up to him and after a few seconds he sighs, knowing full well I would. "Bruce feels guilty for your capture, and I heard him talking to Alfred about you blaming him for your capture" That wasn't what I was expecting, Bruce, the famous Batman, blames himself for my capture?

I frown. "Which isn't true"

"I know kid, you could never blame him for that" I stare at the emphasis of that. My injuries, and how I did blame him for something. Even after having known him for two years now, it still amazes me how well he knows me. That I wouldn't blame him for my injuries, but for his distrust of me.

"Bruce blames himself?" I ask as a confirmation and Barry nods. "I mean, I would understand if it's Robin but.. why would he feel guilty because of me?"

A sad smile appears on Barry's face. "Because unlike Batman, Bruce cares too much."

"But about me?" I ask sceptically and Barry almost laughs.

"Especially about you Wally." Barry tells me. "And not just because you managed to get Dick to open up to the world and accept Bruce as his dad. But also because you forced your way into his heart with your awesome personality and your willingness to put others before yourself"

I smile at his words, not yet fully accepting or understanding why yet, but I smile at the faith Bruce put in me.

"You didn't hear it from me okay? Don't tell Bruce I told you this." Barry asks me and I shrug, watching as Iris comes into the living room with a plate of lasagne, the not-garbage one. I grin.

I zip over to her, pretending that my legs and ribs didn't ache from the use of super speed.

"Thanks Aunt Iris, you're the best" I say, taking the plate from her with my broken arm, which was basically fully healed already. "Oh, Barry thinks that new recipe tastes like garbage." I say.

"Wally!" Barry yells and I grin, zipping upstairs.

I knew he was going to get me back for this but that was just the way we worked. We got each other in trouble with Aunt Iris, we joked and pranked, but that was the exact thing that brought us closer together as a family, Iris either playing along or getting caught in the crossfire and having to break us too apart.

But that was what made this family. And it created a bond closer to the ones I had with my biological parents. Biological, that's all they were to me, because ever since I started to live with Barry and Iris, they've been better parents to me than they had ever been.

They had shown me how it was to be loved, how it was to have a family that loved you unconditionally.

They helped me, and right now I had to repay that favour by trying to convince Bruce, Batman, that he wasn't the one to blame. And that I didn't blame him.


	8. Chapter 8

May 9th, 2008. 12:34

"You good kiddo?" Barry asks and I nod, testing the strength in my fingers but feeling hints of pain crawl up my arm. I wince slightly and Barry puts a hand on my arm. "That's to be expected, it's not healed as much as humans would have it healed but the doctors didn't have a problem with it with your superspeed"

I nod again, rubbing my arm lightly and feeling the clammy skin with a strange mixture of disgust and relief.

"I'm gonna go wash up a bit, kay?" I ask him and my uncle nods with a bright smile, ruffling my hair.

"Just be careful, you'll be sore for a while" I roll my eyes, walking up the stairs. "And no running!" He shouts and I grin at the mention. Still, I wouldn't've have done it even if Uncle Barry had told me I was allowed. My legs were feeling really numb still, and my head was still a bit dizzy. Not to mention the bruises that were still on my body.

Almost faded away but still there.

I walk over to the bathroom, turning on the water and running my arms under the warm water, sighing in relief. I gently wash both limbs with the warm water, grinding my teeth as a small pain works its way down my fingers as well. Honestly it was more annoying than painful, annoyingly painful.

But still, I was just glad to get rid of that cast.

The skin looked odd now I could see it properly and I wanted nothing more than to scrub my skin raw but one, Alfred explicitly told me not to and I was smarter than to disobey his order, despite what many people thought, and two; despite only being 13, I had experience with being a sidekick, a superhero.

Which meant broken bones wasn't a stranger to me.

I almost laughed right then and there. Which part should've freaked me out the most? The fact that I basically got tortured a week okay, or the fact that it wasn't as bad because I was a superhero, I already saw traumatising things every time I went on patrol. I shook my head, mentally choosing the latter.

"Wally? Are you alright?" Aunt Iris softly asks and I sigh, turning off the warm water.

"You can come in" I tell her in a soft voice and she did, opening the door almost hesitantly. I look at her and for some reason I stagger when I see her, walking up to her and wrapping my arms around her.

"Wally? Honey?" She almost gasps, not hesitating to wrap her own arms around me. I don't cry, my eyes don't water, I just accept the comforting hug, eyes closed for a moment.

"Is it bad that I'm taking this so.. well?" I stop for a second, well? Was I doing well? All things considered, I'd say I was. Of course I couldn't deny the nightmares I've been having every night, or two times a night but.. it wasn't like what Barry told me when Robin got kidnapped the first time by Two-face. His nightmares, and his traumas.

Of course Robin had only been nine but… well? Was I doing well? Better now my injuries were healed?

"If it's sincere you shouldn't feel bad" Iris whispers in my ear, stroking my hair softly. "I talked to Dick a few days ago when you were sleeping, he told me what you said" I frown for a second.

"What did I say?"

"That being a hero already traumatised you" Iris states bluntly and I avert my gaze for a moment, feeling my face heat up almost at the mention. I had no problem sharing this with Roy or Dick, or Barry even. But Aunt Iris wasn't a superhero, she didn't need to know. But of course it was foolish to think she wouldn't know.

She saw what it did to uncle Barry, she saw what it did to me. Because she cared, and didn't allow secrets between us. So she already saw what it did to us, the nightmares, the sleepiness, or the lack of sleep, the stress and the injuries, the trainings.

"Don't feel bad if it does effect you Wally, this was different than what you saw out there." She says when I don't reply and I smile, untangling myself from the hug.

"Thanks" I say sincerely and she hands me some salve. I beam up at her, almost forgetting to nurse my newly healed arms, or rather the skin that had been irritated for 7 days, or 6 weeks for normal humans. She grins, before leaving me alone. But I was already feeling much butter.

YJ

May 9th, 2008. 13:12

"Master Wallace? I am afraid Master Dick is not home yet. He is at school" Alfred said, probably surprised to see me at his door so shortly after the whole event. I shuffle slightly, taking in the butler quickly before looking at his face again.

"I know, I was just wondering if I could come in?" I ask a bit sheepishly, rubbing the back of my neck. There was a glimmer in Alfred's eyes, and a tug at the corner of his lips.

"Of course Master Wallace" He says, fully opening the door as an invitation.

"I don't suppose I can convince you to stop calling me master?" I grin, cocking my head sideways slightly and taking off my jacket, gratefully accepting Alfred taking it from me.

"You can always try" There was a hint of laughter in his voice and I beam.

"Now I understand why Dick is so fond of you Alfred" I say with a sincere tone, totally serious right now. He seems surprised at the comment, looking at me. "Don't tell me he never told you?"

"Well he was raised by Bruce Wayne after all" Alfred points out and I smirk. Before this whole fiasco I wouldn't've understood the joke but after seeing Bruce in his home for several days, or mostly hearing stories about Bruce, I started to realise that the Bruce Wayne I knew from media was totally different than the Bruce Wayne in real life.

While he cared more for his own good, as uncle Barry put it, he had trouble expressing this.

"Fair enough" I shrug and Alfred walks in front of me to the living room.

"Would you care for some tea?" He asks me but I shake my head, sitting down on the couch. "Not that I don't enjoy your company but may I ask for the reason of this visit?"

I frown at the question, not sure if I should answer it honestly but after a second of thinking I just decide to go for it.

"I wanted to talk to Bruce" Alfred raises an eyebrow at the statement.

"Oh dear, and what will that conversation include?" I blink a couple of times, surprised at how easily I could talk to Alfred actually, and how at ease I felt around him. Although his tone was stern and demanding, there was a sense of.. safeness that I could just not answer his question and that he would be totally okay with that.

And a sense of.. secrecy. That he wouldn't rat me out the first chance he got.

"That he's been avoiding me, I think he blames himself for what happen" I vaguely gesture to my arm and fingers, wiggling them slightly to emphasise the injuries I had sustained during my … capture. Alfred flinches ever the slightest, and I don't even think a normal human would have noticed it.

He's silent for a short moment.

"Perhaps it would be wise to wait for Master Bruce himself" Alfred eventually concludes, waiting another few seconds, perhaps for me to say something before he stands up. "I will fetch some tea and snacks"

I just smiled weakly as the butler left.

YJ

May 9th, 2008. 14:03

"Was your meeting successful?" Alfred suddenly asks from another room, but close enough to hear it but I know he's not talking to me.

"The meeting was delayed, but the deal is as good as sealed" Bruce. There was a hint of delight in his voice, something that was still odd to hear after meeting Batman for two years now. I stare at my fingers numbly, the skins still a little bit odd-coloured from splints, and I just hoped it would heal quickly.

"There is someone waiting for you in the living room" Alfred says after a short silence and I stiffen slightly at the mention of my presence.

Another short silence on the other side of the door and I sheepishly look up to the closed door. "Who?" Bruce asks after a while.

"It would perhaps be wiser to see for yourself" Alfred says and almost immediately the door opens, revealing Bruce standing in the door. Even if he tried to hide it, he froze visibly when he was me sitting on the couch. I smile awkwardly, not knowing what to say exactly right now. This played out far smoother in my head than in reality.

"Wallace? Dick is at school, he won't be home for another hour" Bruce says and I wince at the name.

"Wally" I mumble but by the way his face changes I know he heard it. "And I know, I'm not here for Dick" I tell him, and his face grows even more confused than it already was. Then a look of realisation crosses his features and I see his muscles tighten in realisation, ready to bolt almost.

I take a breath, never even thinking about speaking up to an adult like this, a famous billionaire no less, Batman for fuck sake.

"You've been avoiding me" At the comment Bruce actually grimaces but he remains calm, walking over to the other couch and sitting down. "I wanna know why" I add in a whisper.

"I was busy-" He wasn't yet finished with his sentence, and I would never know which lie he was going to tell me but I knew it was probably going to be 'something in Gotham', but I heard that one already, just like 'Something with a league case', I wanted the truth right now.

"Bullshit" I glare, feeling a sort of cold feeling spread through my body as I snap at Batman but unlike expectations, he doesn't glare back. His eyes widen ever the slightest, leaning backwards. Eyes filled with.. shame?

"Leslie removed your cast" Bruce says painfully after an uncomfortable silence. I shake my head with a sarcastic smile.

"That's what it's all about isn't it?" I mumble but I know Bruce can easily hear it. "Do you blame yourself for this?" And even though I knew it was an option, because Barry told me about it, Bruce blaming him for my capture, my torture. Barry told me it was a legit reason and possibility.

But it still surprised me, his honesty still surprised me.

"You blame me, I overheard you talking the other day" This time I'm taken aback, blinking a couple of times and trying to comprehend what Bruce just said, what The Batman just admitted.

"I never said that"

"I heard you talking" Bruce growls and I feel almost more at ease as his voice starts to lean towards the Batman side, almost relieved when he acts like the person I know, feared but knew nevertheless. I cringe inwards, this was all too familiar when I was forced to leave my parents. But I pushed past it, feeling anger fill my body.

"I was talking about you not trusting me!" I shout, angry tears welling up in my eyes. "I never blamed you for Robert or Alan kidnapping me, not even once" I continue, slightly calmer. I stare at Bruce, who looks at me with a surprised and shocked expression.

"How can you say that?" He glares, demanding, demanding like Batman and I grimace at the realisation that Batman was bleeding through the conversation, creating a defence for Bruce Wayne.

"Stop with the bat glares" I retort with a glare as well but I force my face to relax. "I never blamed you for my capture, that wasn't your fault. I didn't storm off when you said you didn't trust me, this was two weeks after you said that. I was meeting with Barry, you had nothing to do with me being at that place"

"You were kidnapped because you knew my identity"

"Fun fact Bruce, I knew your identity before you disapproved, so don't even go there" I retort, turning serious again "I never blamed you for my capture, I did blame you for not trusting me, that hurt me. I kept my own identity a secret for one year now, including almost everyone of the league and their partners"

"I should've trusted you" Bruce admits with a whisper.

"You should've, but I know that you didn't mean it like that. You were freaked because Dick went against your rules to protect the both of you. You didn't do all that freaky research you usually do, if I should believe Dick" I say light heartedly, shrugging at the sentence.

"How can you still trust people so unconditionally after what happened?" Bruce asks me and this time I'm the one wincing, grimacing at the silent mention of my parents, my life before Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris took me in as one of their own, before Iris found me in the hallway that fateful day.

I shudder slightly at the memory but shake my head, looking up to Bruce again.

"Because people showed me I could. Uncle Barry, Aunt Iris, even some of my teachers who knew" I chuckles softly at the memory. "And later on when I met Robin"

"He understood your situation" Bruce tries to explain but I shake my head.

"I didn't understand his because I didn't know, but it didn't matter. He showed me that I could still trust people" I state, pausing for a moment. "How come he hasn't done the same to you? I know he tries, you know he loves you" And really, should I be surprised when he shows a look of surprise at the statement?

But he wouldn't be Batman if he didn't immediately mask that surprise, replacing it with a stoic look again.

"My other job doesn't really let me" Bruce states but I shake my head again.

"Before you start, I know I've only been a hero for a year, and that Barry shields me from the bigger enemies. I know Gotham is worse than Central City but I've been doing this job as well. So it doesn't mean you have an excuse to shut down like this."

"You have no idea what Batman has gone through"

"Bruce, with all do respect, I don't but I can see the affect on Uncle Barry. Do you think he doesn't have nightmares? He doesn't smile 24/7, but he chooses to separate his hero life as much as possible" I pause, taking a short breath. "I've seen some stuff as well Bruce, even before all of this. You think it is easy for me to watch people die right in front of me?"

Bruce just glares at me, not speaking. I take another breath, calming myself down.

"Tell me, tell me what you've gone through" He eyes at me skeptically. And I practically know what he is thinking. Which of the probably thousand stories should I tell you? When I was stabbed? When I was beaten? When my parents died? The options were endless.

"You know about the time Two-face-" But I cut him off.

"Yes" I hiss with a glare. "I know about that already, so don't bother. And by the way, that story is about Robin, not Batman"

"Last summer.." He starts and I blink a couple of times. I really.. didn't think I could actually make him tell something. This summer? My brain already starts working. But the only thing I can come up with is a frantic Robin.. because Batman had been missing for too long…

"You know the League of Assassins, Ra's Al Ghul?" I nod as a silent 'yes', I did. Did Dick know about this story? Heck, Did Barry even know?. "His daughter, Talia Al Ghul, was… is .. obessed with me, they thought of me as a suitable heir to the throne"

"They thought you could successfully take over the whole League with Talia?" I ask and Bruce nods painfully.

"I declined but Talia wouldn't want to take a no for an answer" Bruce continues and I painfully swallow. This couldn't head into that direction… couldn't it? "She kept trying but I kept declining, so one night she captured the Batman… drugged me.." He stopped, and I vaguely realise that he said 'the Batman'.

Not him, not Bruce, not the guy that was currently in front of me, but The Batman. And again, he was separating his life with his superhero life. Just like Uncle Barry did with the Flash, the only difference is.. he kept them totally separate. Everything the Batman lived, everything he endured wasn't something Bruce had endured.

Flash acknowledged the pain Barry had gone through, Barry acknowledged the pain Flash had gone through.

"She raped me that night" I close my eyes for a moment. There it was, the inevitable sentence Bruce had been building up during the whole story.

"That's messed up" I whisper, looking at him. "I'm so sorry Bruce"

There was a long silence, a painful and admittedly awkward silence as neither of us knew what to say. So I decided to break the ice.

"Does Dick know?" Bruce looks up at the question, a guilty look spreading on his face. "My god, he doesn't?!" I exclaim and Bruce glares lightly again.

"He knows that Talia kidnapped me-"

"But not the last part" I finish, deliberately leaving out the 'rape' part. And Bruce shakes his head to confirm my suspicions. "You gotta tell him Bruce, he deserves to know"

"I can't tell him Wally, he's 11" Bruce hisses and I sigh, staying calm.

"He's also partner to Batman; Robin the Boy Wonder. He's no ordinary 11 year old" I lean back slightly. "Took Barry awhile to get that as well" I mumble and Bruce looks up with a surprised look.

"He didn't?" Bruce asks in awe and I chuckle at the sentence, feeling a little tension drain from my body.

"He didn't" I confirm. "You probably know he's not the loud mouth he usually is, not all the time. He kept secrets from me, thought he was protecting me but it tore our relationship apart"

"Dick already has enough on his plate" Bruce tries again but I shake my head again.

"He already knows about the kidnapping Bruce, and he probably also knows there's more to the story. You taught him after all" I shrug, looking over at Bruce. The man frowned as he was in deep thought, his muscles still tense.

"Look Bruce I'm not forcing you anything anymore, done that enough already but… " I stop for a moment, trying to find the correct way to say everything. "I'm not saying to trust everyone, Barry doesn't either but you have a different way of hiding everything.. but uncle Barry still has a small group he does trust, Iris, me, Dick, even you."

"It brings us closer, and I'm not going to lie Bruce, it hurts hearing everything but not hearing it is worse. It creates a barrier and Dick loves you too much, he wants to know. Trust someone, or more, with your life, like you always tell me to tell Barry" I shrug at the last part, grinning sheepishly at the billionaire.

"I should go now, thanks for listening B" Bruce raises his eyebrow at the nickname and I cower slightly with a grin, rubbing the back of my neck and standing up.

"Sit down Wally" Bruce says and I stagger at the command. He seems to notice the reaction and sighs, standing up. "I think you might be right"

"I am?" I squeak at the comment and Bruce nods, taking out his phone.

"I have a call to make, can you inform Alfred that we're having company tonight, 6"

May 9th, 2008. 17:53

"Are you scared?" I ask after we're both silent for a moment and Dick rolls his eyes at me.

"Anxious at most" Dick responds. "Whatever it is Bruce is planning, it's probably egregious"

"Dude!" I exclaim, sitting up straight on the bed. "English is my mother tongue but what does that even mean?"

At this Dick chuckles, and I narrow my eyes. "Google it" So I, still not trusting the little troll, take out my phone, quickly googling the word. Dick continues to grin at me as I read through the meaning of the words, mouth agape.

"You little-" I stop myself, throwing a pillow at his face. "You win this time okay?!" I exclaim Dick cackling at my reaction. Egregious; both meaning outstandingly bad and remarkably good at the same time. I now understood Dick's complaints about the sudden language. And truth be told, it was amusing to watch Dick butcher the English language.

"I can see you're chuffed" I glare at him at the comment.

"Not this time Boy Blunder"

There was a long silence again as both Dick and me sat in his room, just laying around and enjoying being in the same room in the Wayne Manor for once. It still felt weird to be in the Manor but somehow the room itself felt safe, comforting. And despite popular belief, the room wasn't .. 'rich', just big.

Then all of a sudden Dick's phone started buzzing, a message from Roy.

"WTF IS GOING ON?!" He wrote in the message and Dick frowned.

"What?!" He quickly typed back after showing the message to Wally, who was just as lost as Dick was. But Roy didn't reply, offline and not answering Dick's question.

"Maybe Bruce knows" Dick mutters, sliding off his bed and walking out of his room. Wally silently follows, starting to worry slightly.

"What the hell?" A figure yelled as Dick and Wally entered the living room.

"Roy?" Wally frowns at the older ginger. "What are you… uh Mister Queen" The speedster pales at the sight of the other billionaire. Sure he knew him but not as the billionaire. He knew him as the Green Arrow, mentor to Speedy, not as Oliver Queen, adopted father of Roy.

"Wally?" Oliver asked, just as confused. "What are you doing here, how do you know Mr. Wayne?"

"Through Dick" Wally replied, still a bit shocked at what was happening. "What are you doing here, I thought you had work" He asks, 'work', a silent code every superhero used to describe their hero life.

"It's okay Wally" Bruce announced himself, walking into the room. Wally blinked a couple of times but Dick seems to catch on the quickest.

"Dude your stupid speech actually worked!" He grins and Wally quickly matched his grin. "Race ya to the dining room?"

The look on Dick's face said enough and Wally sped off, leaving a trail of flailing papers behind, Dick running after him.

At this the two archers both shouted at the speedster, both for other reasons.

"Oh my god I can't believe this, you should pay me for babysitting those two" Roy mutters to Bruce, walking after them and leaving Bruce and Oliver alone. The latter anxiously looked at Bruce.

"I can explain"

May 9th, 2008. 19:36

After dinner, and after a lot of explaining to Oliver about Robin and Batman being Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne, they were ready to say goodbye and go back to their own city.

"This doesn't mean you can go and tell everyone, I told you because I trust you and because Roy is friends with Dick and Wally" Bruce frowned and Oliver nodded.

"Don't worry Bruce, I won't tell anyone. Thank you for telling me" He said, reaching out for Roy and taking him in a side hug. "And thank you for not murdering Roy when Dick told him" He grinned, ruffling Roy's hair.

"Ollie!" Roy shouted in protest, wrestling out of the hug.

"Kodak moment" Dick muttered with a smirk on his face and Roy just glared at him.

"We should get going Roy" Oliver then said but Bruce stopped him.

"There's a Zeta Tube in the bat cave"

"The batcave?" Ollie gasped, looking at Roy with almost wide eyes who just shook his head with a sigh. Barry grinned, zipping over to the billionaire.

"Don't ask him if you can try on the cowl, he'll decline every time" Barry grinned but Bruce just grunted, walking over to the clock in the living room. Barry took a step back, watching as Wally and Dick were still on the couch, waiting for Barry to be leaving as well and take Wally with him.

"Bruce will probably tell you something tonight" Wally mutters, not looking at his best friend, sitting on the railing of the couch while his friend sat on the couch, next to him.

"Is it bad?" Dick asks and this time Wally does look at him, eyes full of sorrow.

"It's bad" Wally confirms. "But listen to him 'kay? It's better if he does tell." Dick huffs out a breath, catching his hair that was currently falling over his eyes.

"Don't be like that buddy" Wally teased, nudging him with his knee. Dick just looked at Wally.

"I don't know Walls, I want what you have. You and Barry.." he stops and Wally plops down next to Dick instead of sitting on the railing.

"You think we had that from the beginning?" Wally mutters, not resentful towards his best buddy at all. "I didn't know him at all when he and Iris took me in, and the last thing I wanted was a father figure after what mine did" Dick winces at the mention of Wally's old family. He knew what had happened.

He didn't know all the details yet because just like him, he didn't like to talk about what happened to his biological parents. They would occasionally slip something and carry on, but not much.

"Barry is different than Bruce I guess, and he had Iris to coax him out of everything that happened with his parents" Wally spoke lowly, watching his uncle walk into the batcave with Bruce. "Do the same with Bruce I guess. He cares about you, which is why he doesn't tell you"

"Can't promise anything" Dick shrugs but Wally flicks his head slightly, looking at his best friend with sad eyes.

"Don't promise me, do it for yourself."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, you've just heard the story of how Damian came to be :) Also, I know originally Talia didn't rape Bruce, apparently that was the mistake of the face behind the comic maker, dunno his name, and he changed it/misinterpreted it. But when I learned about Damian and his backstory, they used the 'rape' story. So I'm sorry if I'm upsetting people with this. I do however believe it wasn't fully .. rape… Okay it was definitely rape but Bruce did have a thing for Talia. Not that it makes it any better but it wasn't completely … I'll stop talking now xD
> 
> So this sure was one big rollercoaster. And the last chapter of my very first multi-chaptered YJ story! Thank y'all so much for the support and reviews! You're awesome! And I hope you liked the story as well. More other stories to come.

**Author's Note:**

> So.. was it good? Bad? Please let me know! I hope I got the characters right and all, but if not, pelase do point out.
> 
> Also; I made a timeline on an onedrive on mine, the link is in my bio. For anyone who's interested. I will post all kind of things over there like timelines, when certain stories happened and important changes to my 'universe'.


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